Blade Of Aurora
by SamGreg
Summary: 'Evil is rising. It's growing. It's getting stronger. To avenge Clare, the Mystic's will have to do just that.' SOAverse/CarterXDana/EricXTaylor/RJXClare/MerrickXShayla/NickXMaddie/TommyXKat Mighty Morphin'- Mystic Force. Disclaimer- We do not own anything except our own concepts... We wish we owned the characters but we don't...
1. Foreboding Feelings

_**BLADE OF AURORA!**_

**_'Evil is rising. It's growing. It's getting stronger. To avenge Clare, the Mystic's will have to do just that.'_**

**_CarterXDana/_****_EricXTaylor/_****_RJXClare/MerrickXShayla/NickXMaddie/TommyXKat_**

**_Mighty Morphin'- Mystic Force._**

**_CHAPTER ONE_**

**_Foreboding Feelings._**

Clare was walking through the forest, basket in arm, as she looked down at the list in her hand. She'd gotten maybe a quarter of the way through it, "Alright, next is the stickleberries.." she murmured. It didn't take her long to find the bush with the cloudy periwinkle coloured berries, but as she began picking, a chill ran up her spine as she felt a frighteningly-close dark presence, causing her hand to freeze. She dared only to take a glance behind her before her eyes widened and she sped off, basket and list forgotten.

_**oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**_

"Alright- Xander versus fire starting charm, take twelve aaaannd action!" The raven haired teenager attempted to stifle a giggle behind her camera, the, slightly older, tan male next to her not doing much better with his chuckles. She spotted her twin sat on a chair, backwards, looking up at the Australian with a condescending grin on her face. Said Aussie looked at them all quickly and then wearily at the ginger who was armed with a mini fire extinguisher, his freckled face much too serious to be assuring.

Just as Xander began to focus and gather his magic, an angry and distressed_ ROOOAAAARRRR!_ tore through the air. Their expressions grew serious at the sound and Nick darted towards the angered dragon. "Easy there Fire Heart; what's wrong boy?" He tried to calm him but the creatures slitted eyes darted rapidly around, his head turning every so often as if trying to find something just beyond his line of sight. Fire Heart's eyes widened as he paused for only a moment before he completely ignored Nick's presence and walked out of Rootcore. The Red Mystic stared after the winged reptile, bewildered, before running after him. Maddie noticed the fire duo's exit and followed after them,

"What's wrong with Fire Heart?"

"I dunno, I went in there and he looked really pissed off about something; it was weird, he looked like he was looking for something and then he stopped and started walking."

"Does he seem really...on edge to you? Kind of like he's...worried?" Nick shrugged slightly but pondered the notion, as it was well worth pondering. Maddie's observations were very accurate, but that only left the question 'What was Fire Heart upset about?'

As they ventured deeper into the forest, Fire Heart's body language became much more hostile. The teenagers could feel the dark presence they were approaching and both began to draw and ready their magic. It vanished quickly after that, but what they caught sight of made their blood run cold. Pale limbs sprawled carelessly and golden locks spread out in a halo contrasted heavily against the blood stained clothes.

Skin.

Hair.

Face.

Blood.

So much blood.

"No.." was all Nick managed to say as he took a sharp intake of air. Fire Heart bounded towards the unmoving body and nudged her slightly with his snout. He let out a whimper when she did not move and released a sorrowful roar to the grey sky. He heard Maddie let out a choked sob,

"C-Clare..?"

_**oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**_

"Did you take care of it?"

"With the limited time I had; do you dare doubt me? That Goldielocks was covered in her own blood before she knew what had hit her. It was just like the first time."

"Tch doesn't mean you, like, killed her."

"Do you dare question me?! Me, of all the powerful beings? I could turn you into nothing more than an ant if I wished."

"Whatever. I was just saying you shouldn't get so ahead of yourself."

"Yeah, and how come we didn't get to go? We could've caused loads of damage!"

"Well your dress sense isn't doing anything for you."

"Ugh please, that's real rich coming from you; btw the slut look was never in."

"It's more discrete-"

"The batwings are a big give away."

"THAT'S ENOUGH OF YOUR PETTY SQUABBLING! May I remind you all, that we have come together to reign victorious against a common annoyance; the Power Rangers. Together, our darkness will ovenjjj knowrpower them; we will make sure that all they feel now is death and destruction. The Power Rangers will be...powerless against us."

"What would make you think we can succeed? We have all failed before-"

"Because this time, they are outnumbered. There are six of them against all of us. They will be powerless against us, almost as defenceless as a newborn baby. Together, we will destroy them and their legacy before we can take over the world and let darkness rule. The Power Rangers will be powerless. We will watch them die one by one before destroying their town. They cannot defeat us..."

_**oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**_

The man's dark eyes widened as he spotted something unusual- it couldn't be possible! Surely this was a hoax to check he was in top form?! He enlarged the image on his ship's screen and a gasp escaped his thin, pink lips.

"No way." He pulled himself closer to the screen, leaning on the console to inspect it further when an electric spark from a taped part of the console made him catapult backwards onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. "Code Z." He scrambled forward, grabbing a cell phone from the console top and speed dialled one. "Holy crap, holy crap." Even before the person answered the phone, the man was spouting out information, "Code Z! Code Z! Code Z times a million!"

"Andros? Slow down. You're-"

"Code Z times like twenty thousand and six!" He heard the man groan before he responded with, "It's not possible to be that high."

"I'm getting so many energy signatures from Briarwood. It's Code Z."

"Code B is a giant scorpion attacking-"

"Not B! Z! Z!"

"C? As in a cat has taken over the government?"

"No, Z for Zordon!"

"... Code Z? Are you sure?"

"Absolutely positive." Andros pulled himself up to a standing position, "I can get a second opinion-"

"No. I trust you Andros." Tommy sighed, "You better get calling everyone. We need a response team ASAP."

"I'm on it." He saluted then realised Tommy couldn't see him so hung up the phone. It was time for some action...

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Rootcore was silent. And that was not a common sight. Even the glowing red eyes of the magical tree's entrance reflected the emotions that brewed inside the five chosen mystics; sorrow, rage and the untameable need for revenge. This left Daggeron somewhat confused, a sense of foreboding settling on his being. As he entered Rootcore he was greeted with the sight of the teenagers, each seething in their own way.

Vida leant against a railing, her knuckles turned white from having been clenched and a violent wind whipped around her. Chip sat with a book held tightly in his hands, anything electronic around him flickering and letting off sparks. Xander stood in front of a currently blank Xenotome, the ground beneath him cracking like something begging to break free. Maddie and Nick sat at the entrance of the hall that lead to Clare's room, her head leaning on his shoulder and his cheek resting on her's. One arm was wrapped around her, holding her to him, and both their hands were clasped firmly together, emitting a blend of blue and red magic. He could see tear tracks running down the Mermaid's face. Behind the glow of their mixed magic, he could see blood staining their hands and clothes. The Knight's eyes turned deadly serious.

"What happened?" Nick glanced up at him and Daggeron could see the unshed tears in his eyes. The rest remained silent for a few moments before he said

"Clare...she-she was attacked.."

"She was covered in b-blood..The-there was so much.." He heard Maddie whisper, each syllable echoing in the vicious silence, before she buried her face in Nick's shoulder, a fresh set of tears streaming down her hidden cheeks and onto his shirt. Nick gave her hands a firm squeeze and their mingling magic glowed stronger. Daggeron stood frozen for half a second before he hurried towards the apprentice's room. He stopped short at the doorway, unable to look away or move towards the unmoving blonde.

She was such a sweet girl, so innocent, so full of potential. She didn't deserve this. He knew he'd never be able to forget this image of her, covered in blood. He walked back to the young mystics, "Does Udonna..?"

"She's still away at the Telmar Village. We don't have any way to contact her in the Northern Forest." Xander answered, his accent thicker than it usually was.

There was tense silence for a few minutes before Chip spoke, "There's something dark in the forest, and either it's seriously dark, or there's way more than one dark something there." He gestured to the crystal ball that was now clouded with thick black smoke. They all stood round the table, Maddie and Nick still holding glowing hands.

Vida spoke with unrestrained anger, "Good. I need to beat something up. And if it's the thing that's responsible for Clare... well then, all the better." They all looked at each other, the need to avenge Clare clear in their eyes.

* * *

_**GREG: Hey, we're back... Missed us? No, okay... We missed you... So. BLADE OF AURORA!**_

**SAM: IT HAS BEGUN LADIES AND GENTLEMON! Hi there, by the way- been a while. c:**

_**GREG: Two weeks to be exact... Yet they didn't miss us... Well, Pft. xD Not much we can say about this just yet... Besides poor Clare... And Tommy and Andros begin recruiting... Which btw, if you're annoyed that your favourite Ranger isn't in it... Just wait a little because more people arrive before the start of the third chapter... So your favourite maybe coming...**_

**SAM: Mmhmm surprise arrivals. Anyway, we hope you liked the first chapter of our first proper multi-chap fic. Fave, follow and review!**

_**GREG: We have next Friday off so it'll probably be a Thursday update.. But we might make you wait another week XD Anyway, thanks for reading :P Bye!**_

**SAM: Peace out guys! **


	2. Back In Action

_**BLADE OF AURORA!**_

_**'Evil is rising. It's growing. It's getting stronger. To avenge Clare, the Mystic's will have to do just that.'**_

_**CarterXDana/****EricXTaylor/****RJXClare/MerrickXShayla/NickXMaddie/TommyXKat**_

_**Mighty Morphin'- Mystic Force.**_

_**Disclaimer:- We don't own anything except our own concepts- soz.**_

_**CHAPTER TWO**_

_**Back In Action.**_

"So I was thinking-" Dana Mitchell stopped speaking as she saw both her fiance and brother standing in the kitchen, fighting over the car keys which were normally buried deep in the draw before her gaze drifted down the counter to where three wrist devices lay neatly; hadn't it been four years since she had last used her own morpher? She froze, squinting to be sure she wasn't imagining it being real before proceeding toward the squabbling pair and pulling the keys from both their grasps. "Explain."

"Tell Carter to let me dri-" She raised her hand up to silence her brother with her eyes fixed on the Ex-Red's cobalt blue eyes.

"I have an appointment with the florist in an hour; you can either explain it to me now without any force to avoid me being late, or I will take the Rover back to the base and keep it confiscated until you tell me- the latter runs a risk of me being late."

"You might have to reschedule." Carter sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, "It isn't good news."

Dana crossed her arms over her chest, "Please tell me you're kidding Carter."

"Day, if I was, do you think I'd be stood here having this conversation? I'd be at the tailor's finally getting a suit-" Dana's eyes widened in horror causing Carter to bite on his tongue.

"You haven't got your suit yet?! Carter! This is why I took control of the wedding! I'm stressed out enough as it is-" Ryan scoffed, Dana was bound to get a lot more stressed now, "You're so unorganised when it comes to this sort of thing! How can you not have a suit yet?!"

"Andros has been in touch, an emergency has occurred-"

"You're not going." Dana stated before Carter had a chance to finish, "The last thing we need is for you to get injured or die before the wedding-"

"It's a good thing you'll be going too." Ryan smugly added, "The three of us are being called back."

"Jesus Christ." Dana pinched the bridge of her nose, "Really? Just my luck."

"Look, it's probably nothing. Andros didn't have many details." Carter placed a hand reassuringly on her shoulder, "We'll be back before the end of the week. We have to go to Turtle Cove first to pick up some people. Do you know where the jackets are?"

"Coat closet."

"Dana~! Let me drive."

"When hell freezes over-" Carter snapped as he brushed past to head into the hall. Well, Ryan had been practising... What harm could it do?

"Go get in the drivers seat, but phone Eric and Wes to see if they have anymore information; I'll pack your overnight bag but I swear Ryan, drive like we practised or-"

"No beer." Ryan took the keys from his little sister, "I promise." Somehow, she didn't have complete confidence in him.

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Wes was so incredibly bored. It was ridiculous. 'Become the Commander' they said. 'It'll be fun!' they said.

It wasn't fun. It was a load of fucking paperwork. At least Eric was here to suffer with him, and in Eric's misery, there was always amusement. So to cure his boredom...all he had to do was make Eric miserable! It's brilliant!

"Hey Eeeriic~!" No response. "_Ooh Eeeeriiic~!_" No response. Hmmmmm. Paper airplane time! _Whooooosh!_ aaaaand into Eric's coffee. Death by coffee. You had a good run Sophia. Sniffles. OOOH there's a shredder!

Wes wheeled himself over to the machine and took it back to his desk. He opened it up, took a handful of the strips of paper out and threw them at the raven haired man's head. He repeated the action several more times, attempting to hold back his giggles, before Eric gritted out "The fuck are you doing." Wes grinned much too innocently,

"I am bored and I hate paperwork, so I need amusement and, well, this is amusing." Wes continued his makeshift confetti throwing and Eric looked about ready to get up and Gibbs-slap him. But then the phone rang.

Eric threw a glare at the blonde before answering, "Yes."

"Hey Fake-Red!"

"Excuse you."

"Chill, that's what Carter calls you."

"That's pretty rich coming from the guy that holds the record for being blown up, and let's not forget the fact that he's engaged to a minor," Eric responded, sarcasm dripping off his words. Wes attempted to throw another handful of shredded paper but halted mid-throw at the man's glare. Eric could hear laughter ending at the other end of the line. "What d'ya want Demon Child."

Wes watched with childish interest as Eric listened to the person on the phone. He tried to get his attention with more shredded paper but he just glared. _'Hmm..maybe a catapult!'_ Once it was almost completed, a fist smashed it. Wes looked up with a shocked and heartbroken expression. Eric only smirked. Payback. He turned his back on the the heartbroken blonde and dialled another number on his cell. "Yes, Eric?"

"Hey Tay, just got a call and we need to head over to Briar-"

"Already know, hun- you're a bit late." Eric's eyebrows drew together slightly.

"How.."

"Merrick."

"Ah." The Wolf. He would admit he was pretty sceptic about the man 'listening to the wind', but Cole could talk to animals, and the guy was over 3000 years old and in love with a magical Princess who was also over 3000 years old, and they were both immortal and resided on a floating, turtle-shaped island. And the wind had an uncanny ability at being right. So it wasn't really _that_ unbelievable. "Well a few of the Lightspeed Ranger's will be picking up you and Cole since it's on the way."

"Alright, I guess I'll see you there." He could hear the small smile in her voice and smiled slightly in return,

"I suppose you will." He hung up a moment later and turned to his best friend. The man was in the same position he had left him in. His expression became exasperated and he walked out of the room, Gibbs-slapping the blonde as he passed him, "C'mon Wesley- car. Now."

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Cam squinted at the screen as he pin pointed the demonic activity to a one mile radius of Briarwood, pushing his glasses further up on his nose. The phone beside him started to ring and, without removing his eyes from the blinking light, he answered it.

"Hello-" He smirked as the voice explained to him the purpose of the phone call, "Yeah, we know. We've sent two of our Rangers. They'll be there pretty soon." He hung up before twisting the chair around to face the other five Ninja Storm Rangers who looked a mixture of disgruntled to be there, worried at the cause, or in Dustin's case, completely oblivious.

"Normal way?" Cam asked with a shrug, the others nodding as they extended a fist into the circle, "Two losers are going." A chorus of 'Gotcha's proceeded.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors."

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"Connor sit down! It's starting!"

"Kira, calm down, Ethan, your Skittles," he threw the large bag of multicolored sweets at the gamer before falling onto an armchair with his legs atop the armrest. Ethan sat in front of the coffee table amongst a pile of pillows and blankets that he'd hoarded from Trent's large supply of, well, _everything_, and Kira and Trent were on the love seat, a pile of snacks between them. As X-Men: The Last Stand began to play and the Dino Rangers broke into their snacks, a clatter was heard from the hallway and all froze in their tracks.

They took a moment to turn to each other before the yelling began.

"Not it!"

"Not it!"

"Not it!"

"Dammit! Fine!" Connor groaned before getting up and dashing away in a streak of red to inspect the artists mansion. Once he left, Trent slid off the sofa and towards the entrance to stand by the doorframe, camouflaging himself as he went. Kira and Ethan kept their eyes on the entrance in amusement. Connor soon reappeared in a flash of red. "I didn't find anyone anywhere, just some brooms i-"

"Boo."

"OH DEAR GOD! WHY?!" Connor yelped whilst clutching his shirt where his heart was as Trent appeared in front him. Kira and Ethan burst out laughing at his reaction and Trent chuckled along with them before clapping him on the shoulder and walking back over to where he was sat. He'd claim the armchair but that would mean not sitting next to Kira. Connor let himself pout a little as he walked back to his spot, but then he noticed something obstructing Wolverine's face. "Hey, was that there before?" He asked his former classmates as he pulled a yellow Post-It note off of the screen.

He vaguely heard Ethan murmur a "When the hell did that get there..?" whilst reading the message written.

"Dude, what?" He passed the note to Trent, Kira leaning towards him to read the message.

"How on earth did they get past my security systems..." Trent muttered absentmindedly as Kira passed the note over to Ethan, who skimmed over it before she said

"So. Who's up for a trip to Briarwood?"

They took a moment to stare at each other before they yelled "NOT IT!"

They all groaned at the failure of their usual tactic before Ethan suggested "Rock, Paper, Scissors?" Connor scoffed,

"Please Ethan, that's so childish." Ethan raised a brow and, before he could object, Connor had grabbed the large red packet in front of him, "We choose through Skittles!" He said with finality. Kira took the packet away and looked at it before pulling out a few red Skittles, Connor hissing a "Yes!" from his spot.

"Okay, so mixed pack with the same coloured sweet and sour flavours for added confusion. We each take one and whoever gets a sour Skittle gets to take a field trip," she explained, holding out a hand with four identical red Skittles, first to Trent, then Connor, and then Ethan, before taking the last for herself. The group simultaneously placed them in their mouths before scrunching up their faces to varying degrees.

"We all got sour?" Connor questioned, incredulous at the odds.

"Let's just go again," Kira took out four more red Skittles and they each took one and repeated the process, though this time, only two faces scrunched up as the others held triumphant smiles. The chosen two reluctantly got up before freezing at the sight of Scott and Jean on screen, the telepath taking off his glasses and the red of his optic blasts slowly diminishing till all could see the clear blue of his eyes.

They sat back down. They could wait till after the movie was finished.

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Leo, having been busy in the control room in the Terra Venture, finally managed to sit down, clasping at a bottle of water like it was the most precious object in the world. He lazily looked out of the port hole, seeing the endless stretch of stars and planets- he liked space, space was fun.

He turned back to the table, staring down at the sheets of paperwork he still had to do; surely there was someone else out there who shared in his disinterest of paperwork? Kendrix always did the paperwork, that was her thing! She had to go down to Mirinoi for a six week training period when it was paperwork season! The brunette groaned, picking up the pen to start when something moving in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned, pressing a palm to the window to see another space ship- nay, the spaceship he'd seen a few months ago for a card game! Andros!

Andros, having captured the mans attention, waved frantically and held up a paper sign that would explain everything to him. _'Tommy!'_ Leo held up a finger to Andros to symbolise one minute, hunched over the table and began to scribble. Andros watched with baited breath as Leo held up his own sign, reading the immortal words _'Fuck off.'_ Now that wasn't very nice...

He quickly scrawled a short reply of _'World in Danger again!'_ And held it up proudly. Leo nodded understandably, returning to his original sign to respond. Andros frowned- he knew Leo would be the least willing to comply, Leo could be a bastard at times but he was needed.

_'Trouble in Briarwood! Tommy calling a reunion and you're the lucky son of a bitch for your team. Get your gear!'_

Leo was amused at how long it took Andros to write that message with a smirk on his slight face, he turned back to the table and wrote another reply, taking his time to make sure it was large and neat enough to be read before he held it up for Andros. _'Fuck off Pinkie.'_

Andros rolled his eyes, picking up his only prepared sign (other than his 'Tommy' one) and held it up. _'I'll beam you here now.'_

Leo reverted back to his original sign and turned back to start paperwork when he realised he'd written on the back of very important documents. Ken-Ken would surely kill him... He started to fill them in, confident that he had convinced Andros to leave him alone; Confidence can often be misplaced.

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"RYAN!" Dana screamed from the back as he narrowly avoided hitting a tree, "THIS ISN'T WHAT WE PRACTISED!"

"What was that Dana? Did you say I'm the better sibling? Oh look, that tree looks nice-"

"RYAN!"

"Did you say you'd buy me a car Carter? No? You sure?"

"FINE- WHAT ONE DO YOU WANT- MIND THE TRUCK!" Carter gripped at the black handle bars, staring in terror at the blond man driving the vehicle.

"CARTER FREAKING GRAB THE KEYS- SORRY! WE'RE POWER RANGERS, HE'S JUST NEW!" Dana shouted as a woman narrowly avoided the path of the rover and was now shouting cuss words at the three Rangers.

"I'M TRYING BUT HE WON'T MOVE HIS ARM!" "WELL THEN DRAG HIM! YOU'RE MUCH BIGGER THAN- SORRY! CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR WEDDING!"

"THE KIDS STRONGER THAN HE LOOKS DAY- NO RYAN, TURN LEFT, TURN LEFT!"

"OR YOU'RE WEAKER! YOU CAN'T CUT THROUGH AN INTERSECTION LIKE THAT!"

"DOES IT REALLY MATTER?!- NO, OTHERSIDE OF THE ROAD RYAN!"

"CONSIDERING WE MIGHT DIE, YES IT DOES FREAKING MATTER!"

"GET OUT OF THE WAY KID!" Carter shouted to a seven year old staring at them wide eyed, "MOVE!"

With a sharp turn of the wheel, Ryan pulled into a parking space, launching the three of them sharply forward at the change of momentum. He cackled away menacingly whilst Carter tried to grab the keys, Dana climbing out of the rover.

"I'll get them-"

"Can't you take Ryan-"

"No, I believe some brother-in-law bonding is required... Plus, no offence Carter, you do come off as a bit of a stalker at times..." Dana began to walk toward the two Rangers who were laughing at what they had witnessed.

"I'm not getting in a car with him driving-"

"Never again!" Carter shouted over to them which caused Taylor to smirk.

"It was actually him I meant, I'd rather take my chances with the menace driving."

"After what we've been through, you really don't want to." Dana laughed, "I'm guessing you've had Tommy contact you-"

"And I'm guessing you're Dana Mitchell? Haven't had the pleasure of meeting you yet." Taylor extended her hand out to Dana, "Taylor Earhardt."

"I've heard about you from Eric." Dana shook Taylor's hand, "I apologise for not being at your wedding, I was meant to go with Carter but had an emergency arise."

"I remember you!" Cole teased, pulling Dana quickly in for a hug, "Brilliant payback for Carter. She was the girl driving the car before, the one you laughed about dating him!"

"Oh right; it's good to see you came to your senses-"

Dana blushed sheepishly and raised her left hand to show her engagement ring, "It's four months away."

"Whoops." Taylor choked back a scoff, "I'm sorry."

"Do you have any idea what this is about? Tommy was very vague-"

"COLE CATCH!" A set of keys came toward the Red Wild Force Ranger, Taylor intercepting and waving the keys at Ryan mockingly.

"I'm driving-"

"In your dreams maybe!" Carter called back, "I'm the only one who can drive this-"

"We know sweetie."

"That includes you too Day."

"No it doesn't." Dana shouted back to her fiance as the three Rangers made their way to the vehicle, her leaning on the passenger side door, "I believe this is my seat-"

"When I'm driving it is." Carter smirked as Dana widened her eyes, "Get in the back short stack."

"I hope you bang your head on the roof of something and give yourself a concussion." She smiled innocently, Cole helping her to climb through the window of the rover smoothly (as opening the door would be too common) whilst Ryan rolled his eyes from the back of the rover where Joel would normally sit.

"Least I can reach the top shelf." Carter stuck his tongue out at her through the mirror, Cole and Taylor also climbing in the car (Taylor in the drivers seat which Carter scowled at).

"I hope you remember that in a few months time when it comes to the 'I do's' and I go 'actually, forget it.'"

**_oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO_**

The phone on the toolbox next to where the red clad man stood, leaning into the engine of the car, began to ring. He rolled his eyes, drawing back and wiping the oil from his hands down the front of his t-shirt- who dared to phone when he was having much needed time with his car? These repairs were vital.

He flipped the cellphone lid, answering with a short, sharp and impatient 'Hello.'

"Jase! It's Tommy, we have a code-"

"Dude, I'm too busy to feign an interest in you losing your morpher _again_." Jason hung up, tossing the phone to the side before continuing on with his repairs.

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"Aurico, what are you doing?" Billy sighed, not bothered enough to actually look at the Aquitan.

"Making a tower out of your tools so I can play Jenga..?" He responded far too innocently.

"Yes well since you enjoy the game so much, I'm sure you'd have no qualms with acquiring my laser scalpel."

Laser scalpel. Huh. Did he put it in there? Because, if he did, it was buried in such a way that he could not see it from the outside. Hmmmm, that looked relatively like...aaaannnd it all toppled over. He tried searching through the mess of tools and had to give the human credit at not so much as flinching at all the noise he was making.

"Aurico." His voice sounded unnaturally demonic. "I do hope you haven't broken anything." He hadn't.

Much.

He was seriously starting to fear for his life. "Uh..just a minute!" He ducked under the table- maybe it had fallen off?

Billy glanced up at the light that shouldn't have been comimg through his window to see Andros holding a sign that said _'Tommy'_. He raised a brow before looking down and reaching for a sheet of paper. A light enveloped him before he could. Aurico stood up with the laser scalpel somewhat intact,

"See Bil-where'd ya go?" He looked around at the now empty lab only to catch a glimpse of a certain Space Ranger's spaceship flying away. "Oh hell no. You know what, I don't even care, I am throwing a party." He began to text out invites.

Meanwhile, aboard Andros' ship Billy sent an unamused glare at said Space Ranger and Leo walked up to him and handed him a piece of paper. "I think this is what you're looking for."

"An astute observation." Billy said in approval before showing the sign that said _'Fuck off.'_ to Andros.

**_oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO_**

The sun was beating down on the Turbo Red Ranger's back as he leant into the smoking engine. The radiator seemed fine, so why had his car suddenly broken down? It was a very expensive sports car, very reliable after all! What didn't help was that he was stranded on an empty dirt road with no phone, no gas station for miles and no one knowing where he was. His team were scattered all over the world, so he couldn't use his morpher to call for help which did mean he'd have to flag down the next passing car... He'd been there for an hour already, no such luck.

A car, he did recognise, glistened in the sun and he had to swallow his pride to flag it down. The car obliged and the driver rolled down the window to speak to TJ, a smirk registered on the drivers face whilst the passenger bit back a laugh.

"Hey boys, where you headin'?"

"Car broken down?" The dark blonde passenger called out mockingly, "That's the problem with sports cars, not always reliable." "Like you can talk, how many do you have now?" The driver shot at his companion before turning back to TJ, "Ignore Wes, he's peeved he didn't get to drive... And that I broke his catapult."

"You smashed it unfairly!"

"Hush now Wes."

"As a matter of fact, my car has broken down." TJ told Eric with a hint of sarcasm, "But I'm enjoying the view."

"No need to use that tone with me TJ, I was going to offer you a lift to Briarwood and tow your car."

"Why are you going Briarwood?"

"Isn't that where you're heading?" Eric raised a dark eyebrow, "Tommy and Andros have a mission for us there, he's called back quite a few... Us, Carter, his child-bride and the demon brother-in-law, Cole and his yellow-"

"Eric's wife!" Eric swang a fist back, slamming Wes in the gut which winded him.

"Who happens to be my wife."

"I didn't get a call..." Eric scoffed, "Whoops... Sorry then dude."

"Wa-wait, it must be a mistake!"

"No mistake..." Eric shoved the car into gear, speeding off down the road whilst directing a finishing comment to Wes, "If anyone asks, it was Carter who let slip."

TJ stood stunned. He hadn't been called back? How dare Andros! They were a team! As soon as his car was working, he'd show up at Briarwood and team Andros a lesson...

**_oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO_**

Vida fell to the ground after another direct hit, pain flooding her senses before she pushed it down, not caring it would all come back after the adrenaline had worn off. She noticed the others weren't faring much better (except Maddie, but that was really because everyone took their pick and she got left with only one. That taught them to be picky) but they were all- AND _that_ hurt!

Vida flew to the ground too fast and too suddenly to adjust her landing and she skidded and tumbled to a stop. She groaned, still trying to get up, before a foot stomped down on her stomach and forced her back. She blinked past the pain and saw the edge of a sword glint in the sunlight.

It was poised and ready to strike.

* * *

**_[A/N]_**

**_GREG: Hey, well... almost two weeks BUT we do have a reason... We weren't in school last Friday so couldn't update... Which does bring us to another dilemma... We're off for exams until September when we both go to University... So updates might become rare, not unicorn rare but like... Andros having a bad hair day rare._**

**SAM: Now hold on, does Andros having a bad hair day even exist?!**

_**GREG: I hope so or that means no updates; you guys wanna know the funny thing about Sam typing that sentence? She had a sandwich hanging out of her mouth and I tried to make her laugh so she'd drop it... It was like a dog holding a bone.**_

**SAM: I KNEW YOU WERE GONNA COMMENT ON THAT! Anywho. So now you know the returning teams- how'd you think this is gonna play out? 'Cause we barely know ourselves.**

_**GREG: Poor Aurico and TJ though... They weren't invited to the party... *Manically laughing* **_

**SAM: Soz guys, I think she forgot her meds today.**

_**GREG: Actually, I have Oreos... And I spy Pringles...**_

**SAM: Well then we're definitely screwed.**

_**GREG: SIDENOTE. Ryan is a little... Different. Okay, just roll with it... It's plausible for him to be like this... And if you've been reading 'Matchmaking Mishaps', you know what I mean by 'this'. Lets get to the reviews for now...**_

_**Thanks to those who followed and favourited! **_

_**So, now reviews...**_

**_Thanks to kat183, brankel1 and Nicole, we're glad you like it! :D_**

**_Dash master 48: Yeah, Andros has beautiful hair.. Slightly jealous. Erm, I don't like Chad and Maya as a couple because I like Chad and Marina... Or even Chad and Kelsey... Is that weird? Sam doesn't have an opinion about Chad and Maya... She's too busy eating._****_The suggestion about a Lost Galaxy/ Time Force team up... We wouldn't write one as such because I can't see them working due to Lightspeed taking place inbetween but it sounds like a cool concept so if you write one, we'll read it! :)_****_Thanks for the review._**

**_Babyi.G- We're glad you like it:P We'll try to keep updating regularly but its our exam period so we don't know when the next one will be. 3:  
Thanks for the review :)_**

**_CarterLovesDana- Well... We like Angst too! We're glad you like it:P like we said, we don't know when the next review will be so keep an eye out. :)_****_Thanks for the review :)_**

**_GREG: Okay that's it :P Thanks for reading this chapter :D We hope you liked it! Remember to Fave, Follow and Review!_**

**SAM: See ya next time! Bye guys!~**

_**GREG: Bye! :P**_


	3. How Many Are There?

_**BLADE OF AURORA!**_

_**'Evil is rising. It's growing. It's getting stronger. To avenge Clare, the Mystic's will have to do just that.'**_

_**CarterXDana/****EricXTaylor/****RJXClare/MerrickXShayla/NickXMaddie/TommyXKat**_

_**Mighty Morphin'- Mystic Force.**_

_**Disclaimer:- We don't own anything except our own concepts- sorry.**_

**_We had to repost because a huge chunk of this chapter was missing... We apologise for any inconvenience :)._**

_**CHAPTER THREE**_

**_How Many Are There?!_**

A noise, nay multiple noises, cut through the air; it-it-it sounded like a laser! Five bolts of orange struck the demon straight in the chest, knocking her off Vida and the Pink turned to her team to thank them but was met with the sight of them all still in battle... But who?

"Vypra! Didn't we bury you deep enough in concrete the first time?!" Vida forced herself to look to the direction of the man's voice.

In a line, just in front of an awful yellow jeep, stood five people with blasters in their hand. "Rangers." The demon hissed, the displeasure dripping from her tone.

_They'd just saved her?!_

_Who were they?!_

The man in the centre, a tall, broad man with dark blond hair in blue jeans and a red thermal topped with a luminous orange jacket that matched two of the others, stepped forward, "Ready?"

"Who are they?!" She heard Nick shout before Maddie added a cry of, "We need to get them outta here!"

"Ready!" The blonde woman in a pink blouse and grey pencil skirt under her jacket to the tall man's right, and the other blond man next to her dressed in all black sans his jacket, stepped forward in unison.

"_Lightspeed Rescue!" _The red man and pink woman shouted, moving their hands from the left of their bodies, to their chests before they pushed something out in a flash of light.

"_Titanium Power!" _The blonde man raised his arms, also being engulfed into a flash of light.

The other two, a shorter brunette man in red and a blonde woman dressed in yellow stepped forward, "_Wild Access!"_ Before they were engulfed in a blaze of light.

When the light cleared, Vida witnessed the five were no longer in everyday clothes, they were in Ranger suits, three different styles... There were other Rangers?!

"No freakin' way." She muttered, a smirk growing under her helmet. There were two Red's, the tall guy and the brunette guy, a silver (the only other remaining man) and the two women were in Pink and the other in Yellow.

"Rescue Red, Rescue Ready!" He saluted. In any other situation, Vida would've laughed.

"Rescue Pink, Rescue Ready!" Did they all have to salute?!

"Titanium Ranger, Rescue Ready!" Salute!

"Blazing Lion!"

"Soaring Eagle!" Apparently not all did salute...

They split apart and Vida was quickly joined by the Pink Ranger kneeling beside her. Her visor lowered to reveal bright blue eyes that were swimming in concern and sincerity. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks for that-"

"No problem. Do you mind if I take this one?" She hinted to the female demon who was regaining herself after becoming disorientated. The Pink had a sugary, sweet voice which only further amused Vida after the whole saluting thing.

"Ha, yeah righ-"

The blaster that was in the Pink's hand extended into a baton, and she swung back which connected to the demon's abdomen before jumping up and sweep kicking the demon down. Okay, that might have been slightly impressive...

"That was kinda cool I guess." Vida forced herself up, "You can have her..."

"Thanks." The woman's visor closed up, "I'm Dana by the way!"

"Vida!" This response was pointless as Dana had already turned to the batwinged demon.

"Hey Vypra, remember me?" Vida left the woman to it, returning to her other demon.

"Unfortunately." Vypra hissed, pointing her sword in Dana's direction, "Have you not learnt?"

"The better question is, how did you get out of sixty feet of concrete _again?!_" They began to fight, along with the four other new arrivals.

"Who exactly are you?!" Xander asked the Yellow woman as she crossed next to him.

"Wild Force Rangers and Lightspeed Rangers."

"We were told you needed help!" The younger seeming Red chipped in, "So here we are."

Xander was trying to take account of the many new Rangers that had appeared. Of course, the Asian woman trying to turn him into a shish kebab wasn't making the task easy. She seemed to be enjoying herself so he doubted Plan Xander would help him out here. As she raised her sword to take another swipe at him, a red and white figure flipped in above his head, yelling "Mind if we cut in!" and slashed her with a pair of glass blades tipped with red.

He heard another male voice call "Quantum Blaster!" in a red and black suit next to Chip, shooting at Necrolai.

"Who the hell are those two!?" The red guy with the shield on his face answered

"The only two from their team who are still in this time stream and they're married-" The yellow woman (who had been _freaking flying five bloody seconds ago!_) interrupted him.

"That's my husband!"

"Then he's cheating on you!" The silver one said this time. Xander tried to process the jumbled information in his mind.

"Hey dude, s'up?" A voice chirped happily beside him. There wasn't supposed to be anyone beside him. He turned to see another yellow (this time, a male) with a lion themed helmet.

"Holy shit! Where'd you come from!?" His accent thickened as he yelled.

"Blue Bay! Wow, you travelled far judging by your accent! Is that like New Zealand?"

"Australian."

"Cool!" The yellow dude turned away to scan the area before turning back around, "I'm Dustin! And that's Hunter!" He pointed past Xander, and (stupidly) Xander turned around to follow the man's direction, turning to see another new Ranger dressed in crimson waving to him.

"Holy shit!" Xander repeated with a squeal as he jumped away, "Do all of you sneak up?!"

Chip paused in his fighting to stare at his friend and his two new companions, switching his gaze to the man in red and black who was now fighting next to the other Pink Ranger. He zoned into their breathless conversation as he blocked hits.

"Where are my cookies Girl Scout?!" The man asked, shooting Necrolai in the chest with his cool looking gun, "I've been waiting weeks!" Huh? Girl Scout? She didn't look eleven when she morphed...

"Three to-" Kick to the half naked woman's torso, "Four weeks."

Chip was pulled away from listening as he heard Xander squeal yet again...

A red streak flew in from behind Xander, subsequently scaring him again, tripping up a Latino woman with a sword and a scary obsession with black, that then stopped to reveal another Red Ranger stood with his arms crossed next to Xander. "Yo."

"IS THIS REALLY NECESSARY?!"

"I think it's kind of fun."

"FOR FUCKS SAKE!" Xander squeaked again at the new voice, this time another Asian woman in black and purple robes and a headdress and veil was knocked to the ground by an invisible force before a Ranger with a sharp black and white suit (possibly on the same team as the Red that had super-sped in because of the matching symbols) materialised next to Xander.

Maddie looked around in awe as she dodged a hit from a brunette girl with an odd, bug-themed headband; eleven more Rangers! Eleven! She looked to Nick to see if he was just as impressed but he seemed too busy- OFT! The girl kicked Maddie straight- and painfully- to the floor. "Hey! That's not nice!" The new yellow guy stated, "You do not-" where was he?! There was only a yellow streak and the brunette getting hit every couple of nanoseconds, "Hit a girl, even if you are a girl I guess? If you... Let's just say, it's not nice to hit people!" The streak stopped moving in front of Maddie and extended a hand down to help her up, "You okay or fine chilling on the ground?"

"I'm okay..."

"Hey Taylor!" Wes called over to the Wild Force Ranger as he switched bad guys again, "I think Dana needs your help more than the Ninja dude." Taylor glanced over to the Pink- she seemed to be holding her own... "Y'know, girls aren't as... Especially pinks."

"You'll regret saying that Collins." But she joined Dana regardless.

With the ever growing amount of Rangers giving Xander a heart attack, the Mystic Force Rangers were beginning to suspect maybe there were more Rangers, ones they had never heard of... And as that thought radiated amongst them, another Red Ranger ran out from the trees. "Who brought him along?" The shield faced Red Ranger (the freakishly tall guy) shouted with his tone laced in disgust as he began to aid Xander, who had been thrown to the side.

"Eri-"

The black and red ranger shot a blast at his friends foot before turning back, "No idea."

"Remind me to thank Andros for the invite guys!"

"Dammit Andros, I thought we went through this!" A voice seemed to say to himself as yet another Red Ranger appeared with a flip, a star on his helmet. Before Xander had any time to dwell on this, however, a shadow fell over them all and a beam of light appeared, causing three more Rangers to materialise. Two Reds and a Blue.

The one with the zigzag across his torso put up two fingers in a peace sign.

All.

Right.

Next.

To.

Xander.

Said Mystic was now revolving between pointing his Magic Axe at the newcomers and at the woman he was fighting, unintelligible stuttering coming from the Aussie. "I think they broke Xander." Maddie said to the Yellow guy that had helped her.

"Poor dude." He sighed in sympathy.

"Where's Jason?!" The star helmeted man asked the new Red arrival with different coloured squares across his chest. The Ranger shrugged and joined Vida, who had been floored once again.

"Is that everyone?" Another Red shouted, the one who everyone appeared to be disgruntled at his arrival, "That was-"

"Seriously, who invited TJ?!"

Before the question could be answered, a giant orb of white light appeared next to Xander; the orb pulsated a couple of times before it opened up into a large portal.

"Enough!" Xander squealed, "No more! Leave me alone!" From the portal, two more Rangers ran out and began to fight alongside the others. The silver and black suited Ranger joined Dustin and Maddie, fighting in silence whilst they watched partially in awe as he used his staff to knock the villain in the chest to the ground. The Red, wearing a similar suit to the Silver Ranger, joined Chip and Cole battling Necrolai- as with his companion they fought in silence.

Andros tilted his head to the side before looking in Tommy's direction and shrugging; he hadn't invited them either.

Due to the slight momentary distraction, Dana was caught off guard by her opponent who now held her in a choke hold. Taylor would've helped the younger woman, but she was hit with a bout of dizziness that allowed her to be pinned down.

Carter, noticing his fiancee's state, yelled at the ranger closest. "Wes! Go help!" Wes kicked down the monster he was facing and looked at the female rangers, contemplating whether he should help them.

"Well I dunno...they look alright." Eric then proceeded to kick Wes, launching him into the creature that was holding his wife down.

"Bitch get your ass over there!" Wes regained composure as he narrowly avoided head butting Vypra in the midriff; the force of his heavy frame knocked the demon off balance, allowing Taylor to push her way back up.

"See," Wes began, "You two just proved my point about girls being... Especially pinks." Dana kicked her legs out in response to Wes' sexist and (in her opinion) completely illogical and _wrong_ statement, connecting with Vypra who instantaneously dropped her to the ground. The Pink held back her chokes, not wanting to give Wes anymore ammo for digs and slowly stood up.

"We had her." Taylor stated as both her and Wes began to attack Vypra before Dana joined them.

"Sure." Wes sarcastically stated, "'Had her'."

"Enough!" A villain from the other side of the field shouted, "We shall be back, Rangers."

"What? No!" Tommy called back, "Stay and fight like a... Whatever the hell you are!" This proved to be in vain as the opposition all disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The Mystic Force Rangers stared around them as all the others slowly began to unmorph, voicing their displeasure at the scenario. The Lightspeed Red moved over to the Lightspeed Pink and began to check she was okay.

"I'm fine Carter." She said with her tone lacking in patience, "Though I would have been a million times better if we hadn't _driven into a tree_!" She turned to the last Lightspeed Ranger and hit him square in the chest, "What were you thinking?! You don't grab a wheel like that!"

"Hey, I know magic when I see it. Besides, it got us here!"

"A tree Ryan! You drove us into a tree!" Whilst the siblings continued to argue, Nick turned his attention to his team.

"This is insane." He stated whilst unmorphing, "Look at how many there are."

"Y'think someone might be able to help Clare?" Xander asked, no longer in a state of shock from the arrivals scarring him.

"Worth a shot." Nick shrugged, "Hey! Long shot but are any of you medically trained?! Our friend is really, really hurt and-" He was cut off by the petite blonde being thrown into him by the two Reds that had entered together. "Woah! Uh, hey...?" Nick held her up awkwardly.

"Thanks and sorry; they always bully me!" She pointed at the pair that shoved her.

"Kid wanted a medic," the raven haired one started before the blond one added

"And, apparently, you are."

"So, she's not...?" Chip asked.

"I am-"

"Cool let's go!" Vida said bluntly, turning around and beginning to walk.

"Where is she going?" Maddie looked to the brunet young man that was the yellow who had helped her.

"Probably over to Rootcore."

"What's that?"

"Well it-it's basically a magic tree."

"That's...so cool! So you guys are magic?"

"Yeah, we are."

"So you can do spells and stuff?"

"Yup!"

"Do you have magic brooms?"

"We actually do,"

"What about a crystal ball?"

"We have that too."

"Do you make potions?"

"Yes we do."

"So what's your zord situation?" The sudden subject switch threw Maddie for a second but the brunet was nice and warm and so she just kinda went with it, a small smile on her lips.

"We use a spell to make ourselves grow with like an armour that represents our Mystic spirit."

"Omagawsh that's so cool you turn into your own zord that's amazing! What's your Mystic spirit?"

"I'm a mermaid."

"Ooh that's so cool!"

"What about you?"

"Well I'm an Earth ninja."

"Wait you're an actual ninja?"

"Yuh-huh!"

"That's amazing! Is that how you snuck up on Xander and hit that weird girl really fast?"

"Yeah it's this thing we do called 'ninja-streak' and we basically move so fast we look like a streak of colour!"

"Woah... that's insane...!"

"I know right! So what do you do outside Ranger-time?"

"Um work at a music store, shoot videos, make sure my sister doesn't do anything impulsively reckless?"

"Is your sister the pink chick with the cool highlights?"

"Yups. She's older by like two minutes."

"Woah you guys are twins! Cool! Do you guys have that twin telepathy thing going on?"

"Kind of, it's weird and kinda hard to explain but it's like this connection- like we just kinda get each other on this deep, I guess psychic, level."

"Woah...intense..."

"Well, what about you?"

"I'm a ninja master, mechanic, freestyle motocross racer and saxophone player, snowballed into one awesomely geeky package! What kinda stuff do you shoot?"

"Whatever really, but I do a lot of documentary type stuff; I love capturing people and events."

"Marvel or DC?"

"I'd say more Marvel than DC, so like, primarily Marvel."

"OOH me too! If you could direct a superhero film, which superhero would it be?"

"Oh that's difficult... imma go with Deadpool- there's so much fun to be had with him. What about you?"

"I think a Hawkeye one 'cause he's all sassy and reminds me of a more talkative Hunter-"

"Who's-?"

"Broody blond I streaked in with."

"Ah." Maddie spared a quick glance past the brunet, only for her eyes to lock onto the icy irises that she now knew belonged to Hunter. The blond gazed back at her intently- he wasn't glaring, just looking at her quite intensely, which was enough to make her blush and force her attention back to her conversation with the Yellow.

"Though I think it would be awesome to do a Flash one cause it's like ninja-streaking and I have first hand experience with that!"

"That's- here's the tree!"

"Woah... you weren't kidding...that looks awesome..!" The new Rangers all stared at Rootcore; its base formed into the head of a dragon, and trying to looking up to the sky to spot the top was useless. The six Mystics walked up to the base of the tree where the dragon's blood eyes gleamed and its mouth opened, revealing teeth and an entrance; the others slowly followed after in wonder.

"Who are you?!" The Rangers entered the foyer to see the Blue and Yellow pointing their cell phone wands and the Gold pointing a navy and gold genie lamp at a tall, brown haired stranger in washed out jeans and a grey t-shirt; in his hand was a roll of bandages.

"I think the better question is who would you be?" He asked, unaffected by the hostility.

"The Solaris Knight." The Gold replied, lamp still drawn.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr Knight, I'm the Wolf," the man smirked easily before sauntering off down a hallway. The three spared a moment of confusion before chasing after him, the Yellow yelling

"Hey, hold on a second! Medical Lady, come on!" The others followed them down the hallway and into a large bedroom. The Red Mystic glared at the stranger, cell phone wand pointed.

"Who the hell-" the stranger sighed slightly.

"Already been through this." He walked past the Pink, Green and Red and sat at the edge of a bed. It was now they noticed the young blonde woman sat up slightly against the headboard, blood staining her skin, hair and clothes. He whispered "Hey," and her eyes drifted open tiredly.

"You're back," she smiled slightly.

"Said I wouldn't take long," he began unrolling the bandage and continued wrapping her midsection.

"Clare...do you know this guy?" The blonde glanced up lazily, as if in a slight daze, at the Red.

"Oh Nick...this is-is my uh friend, RJ. He's..yeah, friend, RJ." The silver suited Ranger spoke up,

"What are you waiting for Day? Go do your doctor-y thing." The blonde rolled her eyes slightly before focusing on RJ's movements.

"I would, but the man knows what he's doing- he's got her all bandaged and calm. All she really needs now is rest." RJ lifted Clare up gently and laid her down, covering her with a blanket. He brushed a lock of hair away from her face,

"You heard the Doctor- sleep."

"Y-You won't leave..will you?" She asked sleepily. He shrugged,

"Not if you don't want me to."

"I don't..."

"Then I'll stay." By this point, everyone had filtered out of the room and back into the foyer. He whispered out a "Sleep well," as her eyes slid shut. He sat there, taking in her blood stained visage, watching her breaths slowly even out. Now alone and Clare asleep, RJ let a protective growl escape his throat, his Wolf spirit thrashing, wanting to tear apart whatever had caused the apprentice pain. He decided he wouldn't leave till he could calm his inner wolf. He didn't emerge from Clare's room for another ten minutes. He leant against the hallway entrance, watching the large group look at each other awkwardly.

"Sooo..." a young, brunet man in yellow spoke, swaying on the balls of his feet like a child. "Who are you guys? 'Cause I don't know most of you."

* * *

**SAM: Hey guys, we is back! Ten years later...**

_**GREG: Well, two months... Two and a half... I know, we're bad people for that long update delay... But we had exams (which are finished now!) and then Sam was fasting so she was dead for a month... We were gonna post last month but she was so out of it... So, we're sorry.**_

**SAM: Yah guys, seriously, but we're back now and we will try not to let that happen again and keep the chapters coming.**

_**GREG: We've made a plan to update biweekly and we're set for the next month and we're hoping to get another chapter done by next week so then that's six weeks... Basically, as long as we stay motivated and not too busy with preparing for University, the updates should be more steady.**_

**SAM: Yups, here's hopin'! Okay, so this chapter pretty much clarified the returning Rangers for you guys- spot any faves or surprise guests? *nudgenudge***

_**GREG: And who are the Silver and Red who came through the portal?(!) Anyone remember from 'What Really Happened When Carter Came To Get Cole.' That mystery man who arrived wearing the really nice jacket that Wes liked? Looks like he found the right time zone eventually... We're sorry if not all your favourite Rangers returned. We didn't want to bring back whole teams because we think it would have been too much to handle, and the Rangers we chose had some importance to us and to most of the storylines in future... So basically, we only kept in people we knew that we could write about and have heavily involved in the story... AND TJ MADE IT! Woo... Hoo...**_

**SAM: As you can see, Greg still hates TJ for...unknown reasons. But, yes, that is him and he has a buddy~**

_**GREG: I don't hate TJ per say... I just... Don't favour him.. Yes! The buddy! Keep an eye on those two guys, the two portal travellers have many, many secrets... Especially the Red one... We know you know who they are, but we're not naming them yet :P.**_

**SAM: Yes you'll see soon enough...*evil laugh***

_**GREG: So, lets get to the reviews... Firstly, thank you to kat183 and brankel1, we're glad you both are liking it still :).**_

_**Dash master 48, well... Lost Galaxy are technically there because of Leo, but the rest won't be... Though a few may pop up at points. As for the hair thing... Well, Andros has very pretty hair... Leo reminds me of John Travolta in his younger days... Merrick has the whole windswept, scruffy thing down... And Daggeron has pretty cool hair... But we're gonna have to go with Tommy in hedgehog days- only kidding :P. We're calling it a four way tie between the four of them. We hope you carry on reading even though LG are very short of numbers in this story, Leo does play a major part throughout so he's worth following... And we're glad you liked it :).**_

**SAM: And, Son of Whitebeard, I actually thought chapter one was darker but no, I see what you mean though we do try and lighten it up with (our attempt at) humour so...**

**CarterlovesDana, hi there. I don't get to speak to you often because Greg... well she's Greg, but yes, I'm glad you think so and that you've enjoyed the story so far :) And as you may have read, mainly due to Greg, the others aren't particularly...fond of TJ- I think it's funny but you gotta feel bad for the guy sometimes. Dana and Taylor we figured would get along if they met under better circumstances (which they didn't really in our first story, hence the bitch fight). Thanks for the faith and, as always, it's awesome hearing from you!**

_**GREG: Anyway, I think that's all for now.. We don't know how well our update schedule will work, but if you really like this story and don't want to miss it because of our weird updating times, it might be an idea to follow or fav? Only because we're ones for updating out of the blue :). Thanks for reading! Fav, follow and review! We'll see you again soon! :D**_

**SAM: Peace out guys!**


	4. Getting To Know You

_**BLADE OF AURORA!**_

_**'Evil is rising. It's growing. It's getting stronger. To avenge Clare, the Mystic's will have to do just that.'**_

_**CarterXDana/****EricXTaylor/****RJXClare/MerrickXShayla/NickXMaddie/TommyXKat**_

_**Mighty Morphin'- Mystic Force.**_

_**Disclaimer:- We don't own anything except our own concepts- sorry.**_

**CHAPTER FOUR.**

**GETTING TO KNOW YOU.**

The group remained silent after the yellow man's question; he had a point, although some of the group knew each other- essentially the Red's- they were in the dark over the new additions, however all seemed reluctant to speak.

"How are we going to do this?" The doctor in pink asked, "Chronological order?"

The spiked haired, older man stepped forward, ready to speak when another younger man in red sporting a red beret stepped forward, "Allow me." His voice echoed his privileged education and his mannerisms suggested he wasn't just a mere Ranger like the others. "This-" he held the spiked haired mans shoulder, "Is _The_ Tommy Oliver, the original badass- green, white, red, black... He's been them all... Careless with a morpher is our Tommy... With hair spikey-er than a hedgehog." He tapped a spike to prove a point before moving onto a man in blue with glasses who was sat fiddling with some sort of mechanical remote, "This dude is Billy Cranston, tech genius and the original Blue Ranger. These two represent the Mighty Morphin' team."

He crossed the room and stood next to a dark skinned man in a red t-shirt, "This is Theodore Jay Jarvis Johnson-" he turned to the tallest Red Ranger, "See, not so difficult to say."

"It's TJ." Theodore corrected, "_T.J._ Two letters."

"_Theo-dore."_ The beret clad man repeated, "Anyway, he is Turbo Red and In Space Blue after being demoted in favour of-" he moved to the man with long brunette hair with blond streaks, "this beautiful specimen of an alien. Isn't his hair glorious?" He stroked the alien's hair, "This is Andros."

"And over here-" he moved to the Ranger wearing a blue shirt over his red tee-shirt, "Is John Travolta-"

"Oh my god! I've never noticed before!" The elder Pink Ranger chimed, a grin spreading across her kind face. The lookalike shot a mock glare at her in response.

"Wait- is he actually?" The yellow ninja asked, his team mate shaking his head.

"This is Leo Corbett, Lost Galaxy Red. He likes to show off." The man gently caressed Leo's cheeks, causing Leo to look at him awkwardly.

"Over here-" He now stood next to the tallest Red Ranger, who was sat in the corner with both his team mates, placing his hands patronisingly on the man's wide shoulders, "Is Carter Grayson, Lightspeed Rescue Red- he holds the title for most almost deaths, we gave him a trophy and everything. Well, he's a fireman... Kinda boring if you catch my drift. Ain't he tall though? And broad." He moved along to the medic, "This is his fiancée, Dana Mitchell, Lightspeed Pink." He then proceeded to pinch her cheeks, "She's like twelve and a girl scout."

Dana batted the man's hands away before snarling, "I am twenty three."

"Like I said, twelve. And this-" he went to touch the silver suited man but was deterred as the man went to bite, yes actually bite, his hand, "Is her brother Ryan, the Titanium Ranger. He was raised by demons so be gentle, big words confuse him."

The man now took centre stage, "I am Wesley, better known as Wes, Collins, the Time Force Red Ranger; ladies please, hold your squeals..." Vida cocked her eyebrow to her twin, rolling her eyes in the process, "And this guy-" he put his hand on the raven haired companion he had arrived with, "Isn't important." He violently shoved the man away.

"Over here we have Cole Evans, Wild Force Red Ranger." Wes stroked Cole's long, dark hair, "Like with the demon offspring... Be gentle, he was raised by monkeys." He placed his hands on the only other womans, from past teams that was present, shoulder, "This is Taylor, she's married to the unimportant guy."

Cole tilted his head, naively yet sweetly saying "He's called Eric! He's not unimportant."

"Thanks Cole." Eric nodded in the man's direction, "Quantum Ranger."

"And over here..." Wes stopped in front of the male yellow, "I don't know who you are; I could guess but..."

"Ooh! Ooh! Can I?! Pleaseplease_please!_" The brunette exclaimed, childish excitement gleaming in his eyes.

"Uuh sure...?" Wes said, looking uncomfortable with the childish man, as if he wasn't an oddball himself.

The brunette drew in a big breath, "I'mDustinthat'sHunterandConnorandTrentandthey'redinosaursandwe'reninja'sandhewasbadbutnowhe'sgoodbutlikehestillscaresBlakebutIthinkthat's'causehewastalkingtoKirabuthelikesToriandhe'sHunter'sbrobuthe'snotheresoitdoesn'treallymatterbutIdon'tknowthoseguys!"

There was a pause.

"_What?'_" Wes voiced. Dustin took another deep breath.

"I'mDustinthat'sHunterandCon-mmpf!" The angsty blond standing next to Dustin covered his mouth, effectively cutting him off.

"_This_ is Dustin Brookes," he growled, gesturing to the brunette he was holding onto. "Connor McKnight and Trent Fernandez," his eyes flickered to a pair of brunettes, one in red and white, the other in black and white. Connor and Trent gave small waves whilst Dustin nodded giddily, unperturbed by his current predicament.

There was another pause and Wes let out a small and nervous, "And you..are?" Eric would recount the moment with Wes cowering; Wes would strongly deny this.

"Hunter Bradley."

Silence.

"And who are you guys?!" Dustin had shuffled his mouth away from Hunter's hand just enough to speak.

A girl with short dark hair stepped forward and began pointing.

"Vida," to herself. "Maddie," similar looking dark haired girl. "Twins," she gestured between the two of them. "Chip," freckled, ginger teen. "Xander," tall brunette teen. "Nick," tanned, reserved teen. "Daggeron," older man with the genie lamp.

Wes looked about ready to make some smart-assed remark when Cole perked up and Taylor covered the blond's mouth with an audible 'smack'. Cole hovered for a moment, as if searching for something in the distance, before walking outside. Everyone stared after him, confused, before they could hear it too.

A motorcycle.

The first nine Reds headed outside, the other's following slowly behind them.

"Looks like I missed the party."

"What are you doing here Jason?"

"Thought you wanted me here Tommy."

"Didn't seem like you were coming when we talked."

"Well I wasn't exactly in the best mood."

"Why's that?"

"Because your ex-girlfriend died." That threw him for a loop.

"Wha- Which-?"

"Kat."

"...Oh."

"Way to let him down gently..." Hunter hissed, turning his back on the new arrival.

Tommy looked at Jason with confusion and slight upset in his eyes which in turn filled Jason with slight guilt, "How...?"

"Adam found her dead in her apartment. She'd been attacked- it wasn't nice. I remembered what you said and thought it might be connected." He went to touch Tommy's arm but Tommy jerked away, "I'm sorry man-"

"Who is this? _Are any more of you going to appear?_" Daggeron narrowed his eyes at the new arrival.

Jason's brown eyes trailed down to the lamp in the elder mans hands, a smirk crossing his face, "I'm not rubbing that."

"He's not important." Tommy walked back into Rootcore to where the other Red's, sans for Wes and Nick, were still waiting.

"This is Jason Lee Scott, the original Red. He is the Edward to Tommy's Jacob over the original pink called Kim- actually, its still more difficult then Twilight." Wes announced to a crowd which had slowly dissipated; pretty soon they were all back inside and Connor was trying, unsuccessfully, to console Tommy.

"That leaves you three." Eric glared directly at 'Mr. Wolf' and the Silver and Red men.

"Who are you?"

The young, brunette leather jacket clad Red exchanged a look with the blond, silver suited man before he answered, "Troy Burrows." He pointed to himself, "Orion. Megaforce, Super Megaforce. We're from the future."

"Orion as in the Lights-"

Orion shook his head before Leo could finish, "Sounds the same but spelt different, not me dude."

"Hey, Wolf man." All turned to Ryan, and to Wes and Eric's amusement Dana and Carter appeared to want to disappear- they knew their Titanium Ranger well enough to know that this was going to be highly embarrassing... "Are you like the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood? 'Cause we got a lot of Red's. I wouldn't eat Jason, too much cholesterol-"

"Like you know what that means."

"I live with a Doctor-y-type person Jason. Anyway, and Tommy's hair would get caught in your teeth... Carter's too big so you'd be eating for like a month and I think you'd have to eat Dana too 'cause they're getting married- though, if you wanna eat her I'm cool with that..." He turned to Troy, "It's nice meeting you new dude, but take one for the team."

"Ryan." Dana hissed, kicking him under the table.

"Or, we could always put a Red cloak on you..." Troy smirked.

"It's nice meeting you old dude, but take one for the team." Orion concluded.

"Ooh, I like them." Dana said with a laugh, "But Ryan's too full of fat, cholesterol and-"

"I'm not that sort of wolf." The jade eyed man finally spoke, "My name is RJ."

"Who's everyone el-"

"Arrive late, miss the intros. No special treatment Jason." Tommy sharply stated, "You missed a great fight."

"Tell me about it!" Wes' eyes glinted playfully, "I was like-" he stood up and began galloping around the room, throwing punches and kicks into the air, "Pow! Pow! But then I saw Dana and Taylor were like 'Help me!' And I was like 'I'll save you!" He landed next to both women who appeared to be seething silently, "I took down their demon and saved the day 'Wes, you're my Her-'" in unison, both women elbowed Wes to the gut, exchanging smirks with each other whilst Wes was left winded.

"Don't act like you didn't deserve that..." Eric shrugged as Wes looked to him desperately.

"So... Like, guys... Who were those... Things we were having to fight?" Chip piped up from his corner of the room, "We know Imperius and Necrolai but-"

"Who?"

"Vypra." The blonde, Pink Ranger interrupted before looking at her younger counterpart, "The woman with the wings who attacked you. We have running issues with her, hence why I took her from you."

"We've buried her in a tomb under a truck load of concrete and electromagnetic fields and she escapes. Concrete filled tomb, thrown into the deepest part of the ocean, still crawls out." Her fiancé added, "When we're done here we're just gonna throw her in a volcano in the concrete tomb."

Vida nodded, "Alright, what about the others?"

"The ape with the wings and gold armour is called Goldar and the Asian woman with the gold armour and headgear is Scorpina." Tommy said.

"The goth with the bug helmet is Trikeena- she doesn't seem to agree with dying no matter how many times I kill her." Leo added.

"The joker is called Jindrax and the woman with the staff and veil is called Toxica," Taylor began before Cole added thoughtfully. "They're Duke Orgs but the last time we saw them, they helped us save the Princess and they said they were done with fighting."

"Wait, you too?" Connor asked. Upon receiving questioning looks, he responded "The goth lady in leather, she's called Elsa but we found out she was kidnapped and brainwashed so it doesn't really make sense that she was fighting."

"Yeah, Marah and Kapri too!" Dustin exclaimed. "Those chicks with the weird outfits- one of them had pink hair?- they're ninjas now, they converted after their evil uncle Lothor left 'em for dead and their cousin, our Cam, saved 'em."

"I still think we should have left them on the ship."

"But the ship was going to explode..."

"Your point?"

"C'mon Hunter, they're not that bad...except now but I don't get why," Dustin shrugged to himself.

Wes shuffled awkwardly, slightly unnerved by Hunter's previous statement, "If it's any consolation... None of our guys are here."

"All in the future with your, quote, 'girlfriend'." Ryan sneered, "Interesting."

"Wait, you're from the future?" Xander leaned forward, "That's so-"

"Our team are, we're not."

"Disappointing." Vida concluded. "What about the rest of you?"

"Scattered about." Jason partially sat on the table, pointing to groups of Rangers, "Angel Grove, Mariner Bay, Silver Hills, Mirinoi, Aquitar, Turtle Cove, who knows-"

"Reefside and Blue Bay Harbour." Tommy stated, "Each town or planet that has ever had a Ranger team."

"I didn't know there were others..." Nick looked around the room, "You were all-"

"Retired." Leo shrugged, "Some of us were brought here against their will..."

"I had to Leo! Tommy would've-"

"Shut up Andros; I had paper work! Kendrix-"

"You mean Ken-Ken?" Wes cooed, tickling Leo's cheek.

"Is gonna screw! And touch me one more time Wesley and your boyfriend might get jealous." He turned to Eric, "You know I'm not doing anything to encourage this?"

"You had paperwork? I have a wedding in three months, one week, four days!" Dana exasperatedly stated, "I have so many appointments to cancel and dress fittings to rearrange all because of Hedgehog head!"

"Hadn't thought of that one, thanks." Jason smirked, "God Hedgehog head."

"They need our help-"

"We could've coped!" Vida protested but Tommy shook his head.

"No you couldn't. You were outnumbered."

"What's with all the yelling? I'm trying to enjoy this and I have a room full of people arguing..." Slowly, they turned to the new voice... A cat... Eating popcorn? A talking cat... A very big talking cat eating popcorn... "What, you've never seen a talking cat before?"

Xander patted the cat on the shoulder, "Well, actually, probably not buddy." The cat put his hands- paws- on his hips.

"Come on, they're Power Rangers- it really shouldn't be that surprising!"

"Maybe you should introduce yourself," Maddie suggested.

"Yeah alright. Ladies, gentleman, other species, allow me to introduce myself! I am Jenji, the great cat genie and this!" He gestured extravagantly to the navy and gold lamp Daggeron was holding. "Is my lamp!" He paused. "Hold your applause." He added dryly. "Any questions? No? Welp, alright-"

"Wait, hold on!" Ryan yelled and Dana simultaneously let out a long suffering groan. "So cats can talk..but mice can't? How does that even make sense?!"

Jenji stared at the blonde before knocking a fist on his head a few times. "Not a whole lot going up there, huh?"

Dana watched the interaction in concentration before pointing at Jenji,"You insulted Ryan- I like you!"

The genie popped an invisible collar, "Well, what can I say? I'm just a pretty likeable feline."

"So, if you're a genie... Does that mean you grant three wishes?" Wes asked, smirking away to his companion.

Jenji turned to face Wes, "Three wishes? Greedy guts! What do I look like?! Your Fairy Godmother? Haven't you got enough Rich Boy?!" He knocked Wes' beret from the man's head, "I'll give you all one, that's your lot."

Eric mimicked Dana's earlier reaction by pointing at Jenji, "You insulted Wes- I like you!"

The cat rolled his eyes, "Works for the ladies, not for you. Right." The cat handed the popcorn bowl to Maddie, "Whose up first?" As no one stepped forward, Taylor took it upon herself to test the wish system out.

"Alright." She shrugged, "But this one is private so I'm gonna whisper."

"Go for it blondie." She bent down and whispered into Jenji's ear; with each word, a grin grew on his face until she pulled away. "Evil..." He nodded his head and silence fell across the room.

A foreboding silence...

After a few seconds, Taylor smirked, "Well this is-" KA-BOOM! Followed by a car alarm blared from outside and Taylor's face filled with an evil glee, "Well I'll be damned."

Jason looked to Carter, "My bike doesn't sound like that and I'm pretty sure I only saw your-"

"You didn't?!" Carter barked at Taylor before he turned and ran out of the room.

"... I didn't... But the cat did. Good job boy." Taylor snickered at the loud _'Oh my God!' _that echoed from outside, followed by thundering footsteps and a fuming, red faced giant.

He glared at the blonde woman who was unfazed and snickering maniacally. Then he turned to the cat. "I wish you would repair the damage done to the Rover."

"Really? You could wish for a new car, I mean anything's an improvement."

"Now would be nice, please."

Jenji raised his hands in surrender, "Alright, alright, I'm doing it!" There was another pause before they heard the sound of a car alarm activating.

Carter ran outside and then came back in with a relieved expression. "It's fixed."

"I'm sorry, do my cat ears deceive me, or were you _doubting_ my power?"

"N-No I was just-"

"Heyhey_hey!_ I wanna wish too!" Jenji turned to Ryan.

"Go on then kid, I'm a busy cat!"

"Okay, I wiiiiissshhhh..." Ryan looked around thoughtfully before his eyes lit up and his lips curled into a mischievous smirk.

He whispered his wish into the cat's ear and Jenji asked "You sure kid?" Ryan nodded and he shrugged.

Nothing seemed to happen until they heard Dana yell "_RYAN!_" and everyone turned to find her spot empty. Ryan giggled in manic glee before skipped outside, everyone tailing behind. Dana was outside banging on something invisible. She glared as soon as she caught sight of her brother, "What. Did. You. Do?!"

"I wished you wouldn't be allowed inside anymore," Dana tried to grab at him but the invisible barrier stopped her. "_Aw, what's the matter baby sister? You can't get past the barrier?_" He taunted.

"You can't stay in there forever Ryan, and when you come out, I. Will. Get. You."

"What, like now?" He stuck his head out of the barrier but ducked back in when Dana grabbed at him.

She ended up hitting the forcefield, face-first. "Oww!"

"Little slow there sis! Ten points for me!" The siblings continued their dance, Ryan ducking in and out of the barrier and Dana hitting it, whilst Carter sputtered.

"Wha-no! Not the points system!"

"Missed me again! And too late, we already started back home!" Ryan stuck his tongue out.

"What's the points system?" Cole asked meekly and Carter turned to him, eyes wide.

"You don't wanna know- just that it's torture, and those two, once they start, they don't stop!" Ryan was still taunting his sister when she abruptly caught him by the collar of his shirt. The barrier, they could only guess, was no longer in effect.

"Got you." Dana proceed to grab his ear and drag him inside with a sharp tug.

"Owowowowowow! How the hell did it turn off?!"

"That would be my doing," Leo said. Ryan would have started yelling at the Red, but he got a little bit sidetracked.

"What's with all the tubey things Troy?"

"It's Trent, and it's paint," he sighed out.

Vida spoke up, "Wait a minute, did you _wish_...for paint?"

"These are not just any paints- these are probably the best quality paints and the rarest!" Trent defended.

Jenji shrugged, "To each his own."

Dana kept hold of Ryan's ear as she reached the overgrown smiling cat, her brother howling in pain as she tightened her pinch. "You want to play dirty Brother, then fine." She looked to Jenji, "I wish that Ryan can not have another alcoholic product until this time next week-"

"No!" Ryan tried to pull away, "Change it!"

"You wish." She pushed him away from her, "And I caught you so ten points to me."

"Wait, you guys are siblings? Who would ever have guessed, it's like you guys never bicker." Jenji sarcastically stated, "You wanna test out your wish?"

"Oh you bet I do." She calmly walked to Ryan's bag, still sat in the hallway with everyone else's, and withdrew a six pack of beer- Tommy appeared to grow agitated, sneaking contraband! Dana placed the beer on the table and pushed her brother toward it. The second he tried to touch the sweet, much loved beverage, it was repelled away from him and toward his sister. She plucked it up with a smirk on her face, _"Perfect."_

"Throw it at me, that might work-"

"Ergh, kid, you may not want to do that-"

"Okay." Dana would definitely throw it with all her might- well, would have had if it had not been for Eric plucking it from her hands.

"Don't be ridiculous." He stated with a short pause before adding, "I can throw much harder than you." Dana happily stood aside for Eric to do so; he drew back his arm and launched the heavy cans straight at Ryan's torso... However, they were instantly repelled and hit the nearest wall with a force double they had been thrown at. The cans split on impact, landing in a sodden mess on the floor.

"Well... That was productive." Dana grinned, "Thanks Jenji-"

"Aww shucks, finally a thank you."

"And thanks Leo for letting me back in."

"You're welcome." He shot a wink in her direction but she had already turned away.

"So... I'm going to go check on the patient, if that's okay with you... RJ(?). You can come with if you want?" She quickly grabbed Taylor's arm, "And you can help." Dragging her in the direction of the patient's room before she could protest, RJ following along.

"Girls man..." TJ rolled his eyes, "Go everywhere in packs."

Dana waited until RJ had gone into the room to check Clare before she cornered Taylor, her blue eyes focused on the taller woman's eyes. "I saw what happened."

"Enlighten me?"

"When you went dizzy-"

"I took a bad hit-"

"That was before that. You looked faint-"

"I was wearing a helmet."

"Look. I'm a doctor Taylor, I can recognise the symptoms early on..." She relaxed her grip on Taylor's arm, and her voice echoed the compassion in her eyes, "How far along are you?"

"What do you mean?"

"In the pregnancy."

Taylor scoffed, "I'm not-"

"Then you won't mind taking a test." Dana folded her arms over her chest, "I have one in the first aid kit in the Rover, I'll go ge-"

"You have one in the first aid kit?"

Dana's cheeks grew pinker and she averted her gaze away due to embarrassment. "Things happen and... I mean... You know... Sometimes you need to- okay, don't ask why it's there, let's just say Angela did it."

"I'm not going to do that-"

"Please Taylor. If you are pregnant then you can't be fighting! We don't know the effects morphing would have on a baby."

"Dana, just leave it."

"I wouldn't be doing my job right if-"

"Dan-"

"Please! Or so help me God, I will go out there this second and tell everyone in that room." She signalled back up the corridor, "And don't think I won't."

Taylor pondered this for a minute, unsure whether the twenty three year old was bluffing or being honest. Eventually, Taylor spoke, "It stays between you and me, the result."

"Promise." She dropped her hold, "You go lay down for a bit, I'll drop the test in on you once I've checked out Clare..."

* * *

After checking up on the injured blonde, she headed back to the foyer, meeting the Yellow as she went, who wordlessly handed her a pregnancy test; it was positive. "Congratulations," she smiled.

Taylor smirked lightly, trying to appear nonchalant with a shrug, "Well, like I said, it stays between us."

"Whatever you want."

"Thanks." They stepped into the open area to see Billy appear in a flash of light.

"This transporter will allow me quick access to my laboratory. Also, it appears as though Aurico presumed it would be acceptable to throw a party in my apartment whilst I was away. I believe we won't be seeing much of him for a few weeks." Billy explained coolly, his glasses glinting menacingly whilst he spoke of Aurico's antics.

Jenji looked toward the raven haired Ranger, who had just ceased whispering his wish into the cat's ear. "Waste of a wish if you ask me."

"Just wait." Eric stated, "It's worth it." As he spoke, a red beret appeared on his head with a smirk growing on his lightly tanned face, "Well looky here Wesley."

Wes, with a face like thunder, was not amused. He was in charge. He wore the beret, not Eric. "You used a wish for that?!" He partially shouted, "That's a waste!" He stormed up to the Quantum Ranger and plucked the beret from his head, throwing it to the ground and repeatedly stamping on it. No, stamping would simply not be enough... He withdrew his blaster and began to shoot at the red hat until nothing was left but ashes...

"See. Totally worth it." Eric said to the cat as the others in the room did not even attempt to hide their amusement at Wes' childish sulk.

"I see your point." Jenji answered as Jason approached him, pushing Cole to the side who had been waiting patiently for his wish- now that wasn't fair...

"I really need something new for my bike- you know, like something to make it fly..." Jenji resisted laughing at this request; well, you push someone out of the way to be greedy, karma will get you.

"Go check it out." He told the original red before turning to Cole, "What's your wish Tarzan?"

Cole's face lit up from excitement, "My turn? Really? Okay! I really, really would like a monkey suit-" What the-? "Please?" Well, he said please.

"Step up from wishing for a monkey." Taylor threw in as Cole was encased in a ball of light. As it dimmed, it became apparent that he was now dressed in an all in one monkey suit...

The Red appeared ecstatic, "Thank you!"

"S'alright Monkey Boy." At that moment, there was the sound of loud banging, metal on metal from outside, "Ah... I see he dislikes what I have done to his bike..."

Connor raised his hand, "Can I go next?"

"Sure kid, whatcha need?"

"Well, saving the world is great and all, but it does a number on my soccer ball," he gestured to the beaten and scuffed ball in his hands. "Could you give me something to fix it?"

Jenji stroked his chin thoughtfully and hummed, "I think I've got just the thing for ya, Soccer Head." He snapped his fingers and an average sized cardboard box appeared in his hands. "Here we are," the feline set it down and placed the ball in the box and replaced the lid. There was silence.

"Uuh, Magic Cat, what are-?"

"And presto!" Jenji exclaimed, removing the lid to take out the ball that now looked brand new.

Connor took the ball in his hands, awed. "Dude...no way."

"Yes way, just place your damaged soccer ball in the box, wait nine seconds, and BAM! Brand new soccer ball."

"Dude that's awesome, thanks man!"

"No problemo."

"Mr Genie, I'd like to wish for a new hairdryer." Andros asked.

"Why d'you need a new one?" Leo questioned.

"Because, Leo, my sister destroyed my other one."

"And why'd she do that?" He drawled suspiciously.

"I may have been a bit...dramatic...when made aware of the changing nature of my sister's relationship with Zhane."

"Oh she told you?"

"You knew?"

"Dude, everyone knew."

"Okay, I think we've established that you're an absentminded brother, here's your hairdryer." Jenji handed the device to the alien who regarded it with starry eyes.

"Moving on from your obsession with hair products," TJ looked pointedly at his teammate before turning to the genie. "I'd like to wish for information on what our current baddies are up to." Everyone in the room stared at him in surprise. "What? It's a valid wish!" TJ remarked, defensively.

"No, no it's just- that's a very responsible wish." Andros explained.

TJ was considering thanking him when a large box was shoved into his arms,"Study up." TJ sighed.

"I hate being responsible."

"Ooh! My turn please Mr Cat!" Dustin bounced on his toes excitedly.

"'Course kiddo- what do _you_ want most?"

"A hula hoop!" Most of the occupants face planted at his request. Jenji looked to the impassive Hunter.

"What's with your neutralness?"

"It's Dustin." The blond said simply.

"Can it be sparkly and yellow please!?" The brunette pleaded.

"As you wish kid," and he snapped his fingers.

"Omagawshomagawshomagawshthankyou!" Dustin's excitement was short lived as he was interrupted by TJ dumping the box of paper work in front of Billy, who proceeded to peer up at him over his glasses.

"You're a faster reader than I am." TJ spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Please?"

"Did you even plan on reading this yourself?"

"Please Billy?"

"Even so, I can't see myself completing this ludicrous amount of reading before Friday- Theodore, I suggest dividing it into parts."

Dana took a quarter of the box's contents, holding it close to her chest and offering Billy a sympathetic smile. "One thing Lightspeed taught me was how to read at lightning speed, all the proposals, contracts, reports, notes... And it'll be a refreshing change to the bridal magazines and florist notes-" she turned to the two younger female Rangers, "Word of advice, don't organise your own wedding, get a wedding planner. I can read this while monitoring Clare, seeing as there will probably be that traditional 'Red Ranger Meeting' which the rest of us won't be allowed in."

"Good point." Taylor grabbed an armful of papers from Billy, "it'll keep me busy whilst they talk about cars, poker-"

"And beer." Dana concluded as she headed back toward Clare's room, "Rest Taylor!" Taylor rolled her eyes, leaving the room in the direction that she hoped would be their quarters for the duration of the mission.

"Okay Cat." Wes stepped forward, rubbing his hands together schemingly, "I have my wish-"

"What, being rich not enough for you Money Bags?"

"Not when I'm hungry, and if I'm hungry then everyone in this room probably is." His lips curled into a knowing smirk, "How about rustling up some burgers? Enough for everyone."

"Always so generous are we? Whatever Money Bags." A plate piled high with hamburgers appeared on the table and Wes instantly snatched the tray to begin offering around, "What about you silent guy? What is your heart's desire?" RJ stepped forward, whispering gingerly into the cat's ear. Jenji looked back at him when finished, an astonished tone to his voice, "Why a loan? I can just give you the money?"

"Just receiving the money feels as if I were cheating. I would want to pay everything back..."

"Huh. Not many like you around nowadays. Check your bank account and we'll figure a repayment scheme."

Once everyone in the room, aside from Cole and RJ, had a burger in their hand, Wes took one for himself, "I'll give these to Taylor, Dana and Clare."

"Dana won't eat it." Carter stated with a shrug, "She's a vegetarian."

Ryan choked on his mouthful, "Since when?!"

"Since she was sixteen. Healthier, animal rights... Sometimes she eats fish." An eyebrow raised at his future brother-in-law, "Haven't you realised...?"

"Me too." Cole ducked behind Andros, fearing something would be thrown at him, "You're eating an animal who has a family. I wouldn't want to be eaten by a cow..."

RJ sighed, grabbing half the remaining load of papers, "I will make pizza." Without another word, he left the room with silence taking over the group... Until TJ spoke,

"Does he creep anyone else out?" Wes looked about ready to respond but fell silent when he spotted Hunter pushing himself away from his corner and begin to walk with slow, purposeful steps towards the genie. Dustin, who had been admiring his new hula hoop, focused his attention on his blonde teammate.

"Well tall, blonde and broody, I suppose you want your wish granted now."

"Your magic doesn't have any _limitations_...does it?" Jenji peered at him, curious as to what wish he could be entertaining.

"No...why? What's your wish kid?"

"I want to speak with the souls of my parents." Dustin dropped his hula hoop with a light gasp that echoed in the silence which fell over the room. The brunette took swift strides towards his teammate and put a firm but gentle hand on his arm.

"Hunter..." The blonde's pale irises were set hard on the collar of Dustin's shirt before they met with chocolate eyes. They stared at each other intensely, unknown words spoken between the two before Dustin spoke again, "I'll be right here with you man." The others wouldn't be able to tell, but Dustin saw the older ninja's eyes light up gratefully. "D'you want a hug?" He asked with an innocent smile.

Hunter slipped on one of his bitchface's and responded "No."

"Come on, please?" He slipped on his own patented puppy face, complete with sparkling eyes and the slightest quivering of his lower lip, that Dustin knew Hunter would never be able to resist. The thunder ninja sighed but said nothing else, turning resolutely towards the genie.

"Are you sure kid?" Jenji asked and Hunter nodded once.

"I need this."

Jenji gave him a solemn nod in return, "Very well." The feline snapped his fingers and a door appeared in vines of magic where there once was empty wall. "There's a mirror inside."

Dustin glanced between Hunter and the newly created door when a thought occurred, "I'll call Blake." He saw the thanks in his blue eyes before he followed the blonde into the room. The remaining Rangers stared after the two ninjas in a mixture of awe, respect and sympathy.

Inside, Hunter and Blake spoke to their parents for the first, and maybe last, time since their short reunion in the Cavern of Spirits, and Dustin stood next to him, a firm grip on Hunter's arm. Once it was all over, the earth ninja wrapped his arms around the taller man's torso and refused to relinquish his grip. When the pair finally emerged from the room, the other Rangers watched quietly as they turned back to face the door. Hunter stared at it, long, hard, and determined, before taking a breath and closing it. The door quivered for a moment before it dissolved in wisps.

Tommy, of course, had to ruin the moment.

"I believe it's-" Jenji cut the paleontologist off with a loud and exaggerated yawn and stretch.

"Ah I'm all tuckered out- time for my cat nap!" The tall feline suddenly shifted into a cloud of white smoke and light and wafted into his lamp. His head suddenly poked out, the lid of the lamp lying haphazardly atop his ears. "And don't even think about trying to disturb me Sonic or I'll turn you into hedgehog food!" And the cat disappeared again.

* * *

**Sam: Tadaa here is a new chapter and virtual cookies because we didn't mean to take so long updating...? 030"**

_**Greg: We've been busy with University and stuff... Like we haven't finished writing a chapter in a month because we've had no time to write D:. Hopefully we'll get back to writing a chapter each fortnight and posting biweekly again... But we're sorry it took so long!**_

**Sam: Seriously are guys. But here is Chapter Four of BOA- bonding time~! Well, actually, name-learning time. 030**

_**Greg: And we finally named our mystery time travellers! TROY BURROWS AND ORION! TADA! Troy's been in a few of our stories with cameos but now he is properly involved! And we have the two girls hiding Taylor's little secret... Oh... And the wishes... We know... Immature BUT it was necessary to create the dynamics in the team... I mean, what respectable Red would take someone who wished for a sparkly yellow hula hoop seriously?**_

**Sam: But we love Dustin more than Reds so...well, I do at least, I don't know if Greg can get past Leo's shoulders.**

_**Greg: SOME REDS! Carter, Leo, Wes, Andros and Troy are quite high in my list... And I don't need to get past Leo's shoulder... Danny, you had incredible shoulders when playing Leo.**_

**Sam: Oh and Dustin-Hunter angsty bit; really puts another side of the ninjas in front of the others- plus, they're my faves and I like the angst :p**

_**Greg: And Ryan... Yeah... What can we say? We changed Ryan's character to suit how we think he would have mentally developed. He changes from normal twenty five year old to immature twelve year old.**_

**Sam: But he's fun so it's not so bad..**

_**Greg: Unless you're Dana...**_

**Sam: Unless you're Dana, yeah**

_**Greg: Or Carter who is a referee..**_

**Sam: Carter is just caught in the middle of them**

_**Greg: He's fine with it. He loves her so has to put up with his future brother in law... Plus he kinda loves him in a brotherly way.**_

**Sam: He's accepted his fate :p**

_**Greg: He did that the day he proposed :'D So! Reviews! Thank you to brankel1 and kat183!**_

**Sam: And Dash Master, mine was Mighty Morphin' I think.**

_**Greg: Same here... I mean we weren't actually born when it was on so we wont ever know for sure... It's a toss up between Mighty Morphin', In Space, Lightspeed or Time Force probably... But I can remember watching more of Lightspeed and MM than the other two, especially Lightspeed. Don't worry about Kai, he may crop up sooner or later... Thanks for the review!**_

**Sam: Do we need to go over anything else?**

_**Greg: Nope :'D**_

**Sam: So I guess that's it- I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, fave, review, follow and check out our other stories!**

_**Greg: Yeah guys thank you for reading :P and hopefully we'll see you soon :D but do follow so you never miss an update... Okay bye guys!**_

**Sam: Peace out!**


	5. No Girls Allowed!

_**BLADE OF AURORA!**_

**_'Evil is rising. It's growing. It's getting stronger. To avenge Clare, the Mystic's will have to do just that.'_**

**_CarterXDana/_****_EricXTaylor/_****_RJXClare/MerrickXShayla/NickXMaddie/TommyXKat_**

**_Mighty Morphin'- Mystic Force._**

**CHAPTER 5.**

**No Girls Allowed!**

"Look, we know whose back, the best thing to do is just destroy them all in one go." Eric bluntly worded to the table of eleven other Reds, no hint of reluctance in his deep voice, "They clearly aren't thinking twice about destroying us."

"But some of them are good!" Cole protested, "Dustin said Marah and Kapri were good and our two helped us!" He turned to the next most empathetic Ranger, who happened to be Carter, but the Lightspeed Red didn't support his idea; he simply sighed, twisting in his chair to meet Cole's big brown eyes.

"They hurt Clare, Cole... They may have been good then but now something has changed. They're a threat to the world and its our job to stop threats. I'm sorry but it has to be done."

"They have other lives now!"

"But they have to be stopped." Wes placed a hand gently on Cole's shoulder, "Sorry buddy, we know how you feel about these things."

"Everyone deserves a chance! Tommy, Trent, Hunter, Blake, Merrick, Ryan, Karone! They all had second chances!"

"Cole has a point." The Megaforce Red spoke for the first time in twenty minutes, dark eyes trailing along the men sat before him until they fell on Tommy. Tommy met the teen's serious gaze as he spoke again, "Marah, Kapri, Jindrax and Toxica are all around in my time. If we destroy them, you'll throw the time stream out of balance."

"Butterfly effect." Connor concluded as soft footed steps echoed down the hallway, approaching slowly as if reluctant to turn the corner and interrupt the meeting. After a couple of seconds, Dana turned the corner with her arm load of paperwork and a sheet of notes in her other hand.

"You read all of that in two hours?" Tommy asked her as she placed the sheets in front of TJ and perched herself on the arm of Carter's chair.

"Skim read." She justified, "Billy finished a while back but he's busy working on a way to link all our Morphers together so I have his notes." She passed the sheet across to Tommy who proceeded to read through Billy's scrawl. Dana had failed to mention that linking wasn't all Billy was working on, she'd managed to convince him into adding extra protection onto Taylor's morpher without having to specify the reason. "The info was pretty much useless- the only point of interest was that-" she glanced at Tommy, ducking her head as she spoke the next line, "They were the ones who attacked Kat."

Tommy's head snapped up as everyone else fell silent, "What?"

"They killed Kat."

"How?"

"Tommy-"

"How?!" He repeated in a much sharper, louder tone so sudden in change that it made Dana jump back afraid; Carter placed a hand on her knee, squeezing it reassuringly, a crease forming across his forehead as he glared at Tommy.

"Don't take it out on her Tommy." Jason vocalised for the other man, "She was attacked and she died; you don't want to know the extent. Leave it at that." He ripped the sheet of paper from Tommy's hands and took over reading.

"Is that all you could find...?" Andros gently asked to which Dana shrugged.

"Billy didn't have much better luck and the other two may have more... But my share had nothing of value."

"Waste of a wish." TJ groaned, dropping his head to the table.

"One time you try to be Mr. Responsible." Eric said with a smirk growing on his face, "You tried."

"They're hiding in the woods!" Came from down the corridor, a loud shout as heavier footsteps came toward them; unlike Dana, this person didn't appear reluctant to crash the meeting. Taylor sauntered in, threw her stack of files across the table and took a seat at the table between Dana and Cole.

"Why are all the girls invading?" Wes whined in a bratty voice.

"Got a problem rich boy?" Taylor raised a brow.

"This is 'Reds Only'- also meaning 'No Girls Allowed'!"

"What are you, nine? It's not a wonder you don't have a girlfriend." Taylor stated dryly.

Tommy, now calmer, spoke up. "He's got a point, the two of you aren't really supposed to be here."

Taylor turned sharp blue eyes to the paleontologist. "You know, you guys keep complaining about the two of us but none of you have noticed that you're little meeting isn't as private as you thought." The Reds looked at the Pilot, confused, and she rolled her eyes before lazily pointing upwards.

There, seemingly crouching as easily as they would on the floor but on the ceiling, were the blonde and brunette ninjas. Dustin pulled up a peace sign, "S'up."

"Oh and let's not forget these guys," Taylor said, taking off her jacket and she, along with Dana, threw it towards Connor. Taylors landed midair on a spot above the soccer player and Danas did the same a little to the right and further back. Trent camouflaged back into sight and, a spritz of sparkles layer, so did the other four Mystics.

Taylor turned to the Reds with a bitchface that clearly scoffed the word 'Idiots.'

"But how did...?"

Leo was cut off by Dana, "The others are listening via Ryan's morpher in the other room." She half turned on the arm of the chair to her fiancee, "You should probably know that Ryan knows how to listen in through yours; nothing is private here."

"That still doesn't answer how you two knew."

"Call it women's intuition." Taylor dryly stated as both Dustin and Hunter dropped to the table top, Dustin almost falling off it had it not been for his quick reflexes; Hunter, however, landed awkwardly on a sheet of paper, making his foot slip ever so slightly, so slight most did not notice... Apart from Wes who burst into giggles. Hunter's cold glare turned to him, instantly silencing the Time Force Red.

"Okay, everyone who isn't a Red, out! Including Taylor and Kat." Tommy slammed his hand down on the table, "Red Ranger meeting, important information gets relayed back to you."

"... I thought her name was Dana..." Chip whispered to his group as they began to reluctantly file out of the room.

Taylor and Dana remained seated.

"Okay, so hands up whose had experience other than with the Rangers formulating plans and tactics." Taylor stated, watching as Eric, Wes, Carter, Andros, Dana and herself were the only ones to raise their hands. "And whose experience exceeds ten years."

The only remaining hands were Eric, Dana and herself again, "Eric?"

"Fourteen."

"Mines the same, and Dana?"

A light blush spread across Dana's cheeks, "Almost twenty, but I don't think ten of those can-"

"So we've found the three most qualified... And you want two of them to leave because of the colour of their suit and their gender." Taylor turned to Dana with a smirk, "I didn't realise all Red's were so sexist and anti-feminiate."

"They have a point Tommy." Andros shrugged, "Let 'em stay."

"You know what, why don't we put it to a vote? Majority wins," Jason suggested, tired of the back and forth. "I vote the girls stay for the meeting, all in favour, raise your hand." Jason raised his own hand and looked to see who else had done so.

Leo and Andros raised their arms, having no issues with the girls remaining, as did Nick and Connor.

Tommy looked at his former student in what might be considered betrayal.

"What?" Connor began. "They're obviously the most experienced here- you wanna forget that just 'cause they're not Reds? That's kinda petty."

"I'm with Connor. It's stupid to ignore them 'cause they're girls or not Reds or whatever you're trying to validate it with." Nick agreed calmly. Dana smiled at the younger Reds before turning to her own Red and waiting for him to make a move or apologise. Blue eyes stared intently for a minute before the giant of a man cast a vaguely apologetic glance to Tommy before raising his hand. Taylor cast her own curious glance at her significant other, who was decudedly more vocal about what he thought.

"Well, experience but they've not really led a team... Taylor maybe, Dana's more suited to picking napkins and place settings... But then again, military brat..." he mumbled, almost exaggeratedly. "Eh, I'm for," and raised his hand.

TJ, Wes and Tommy didn't seem like they were about to vote in favour and poor Cole was just looking between everyone, not quite sure what was going on.

Taylor gave the three outvoted men a smug smirk, "I guess we're staying." Wes looked ready to throw what was sure to be a childish rant when a cool voice silenced them all.

"As fascinating as your debate seems to be and as intriguing as I'm sure it will become," a chill ran down the spines of most of the occupants as they turned to see Billy's unimpressed expression. "I had a sneaking suspicion yoy may want to be aware that the communicators have all been linked. Furthermore, I wished to enquire when the last time any of you had contact with Kai of the Lost Galaxy team was." Billy's eyes turned to Leo, who had grown visibly more paler as he leant forward in his seat.

"Not since he left for Mirinoi with Maya... Why?"

"Kendrix Morgan has been trying to get a hold of you; Kai isn't on the Terra Venture or Mirinoi. His last known whereabouts being Earth for a delivery two days ago."

"That was to us-"

"If you're gonna crash our meeting, at least sit on a chair instead of the arm of lover boy's one." Wes childishly stated, Dana brushing aside his comment.

"He never showed by memory, we thought there was a delay." She added.

"Kai's missing?" Leo's voice almost a whisper, "We've had one Ranger dead, a friend of one group attacked and now one is missing." "I guilelessly doubt that is all of our woes." Billy slyly passed Taylor her morpher, avoiding any Red Rangers (sans from Troy who was more observant than the adults gave him credit for), "Kai's on the official missing persons list... How many are not known?"

Tommy sharply stood up, "Meeting adjourned until further notice. Contact your teams, make sure everyone is accounted for and safe."

"For the record, her dad picked her to be a Ranger." Wes quickly threw in to Connor, pointing at Dana who responded with a roll of the eyes.

"For the record, you only got chosen because your great, great, great, great, great, great grandson died and you were the only person Jen could find with the same DNA." Dana placidly stated as everyone was dispersing, "My dad might've chosen me, but at least I wasn't just used to unlock a Morpher that wasn't even meant for me."

"... Pch-ch!" Eric said with a smirk and a whipping action, "Someone's got a bite to them." Wes glared at Eric before leaving the room to move his bags into his room, seeing as their team were in the future, he doubted they were in any immediate danger.

* * *

Almost ten minutes later, Carter was stood with the bonnet to the Rescue Rover open, toolbox by his foot on the ground, wiping his oil covered hands on a rag. Kelsey and Joel were fine, they were rounding all Lightspeed employees onto the Aqua Base until they knew what they were up against but Chad was out of town. Chad was a skilled martial arts expert, he could definitely hold his own if anything happened.

"Dude! Whatcha doing?" He looked to his left, seeing the Yellow Ninja strolling towards him, "Oh! Cool! I fix cars!"

"Then maybe you could help with this one because I'm stumped." Dustin peered in and almost instantly started tinkering, Carter watching his skilled movements intently, "Your team?"

"Cam's rounding them all up. They'll be fine. Andros is having more of a problem." He popped his head up from the engine, "Do they have cell signal in space?"

"We don't get it on the Aqua Base so I doubt it." A small grin tugging the corners of his lips, "It could be worth-" he abruptly stopped, eyes flicking to the door where Dana was walking out of, panic echoing in her walk and stance, "Hey you..." She continued in her path to the car, climbing in and opening the glove compartment, "Dana?" She pulled every item out frantically before turning to look in the back seats, "Honey... What are you doin-"

Startled, Dana sat bolt up, hitting her head squarely on a black support bar that held the overhead lamps, "Ouch!"

"Have you gone deaf or were you-"

"The address book-"

"What about it?"

"I can't find it! I was unpacking and I couldn't find it so-"

"You mean the one that was on the kitchen table?"

"Yeah! That- Oh..." She slumped in the passenger seat, head in hands, "I left it!"

"Dana..."

"I left it right there on the center of the table!"

"No big deal, it'll be there when we get back." Dustin moved his attention from the car to the couple, almost bubbling from excitement; he did love people in love! They were always so... So... Love-y!

"You don't understand-" Dana climbed out of the car, standing in front of the Firefighter, "The church wanted confirmation today, I was meant to visit them or we'll lose it!" Ah... Her franticness now made sense. "I can't find their number on the internet and if I don't call them we'll lose it."

"Day..." His voice soft and gentle as he rested his hands on the fair-haired woman's biceps, "It doesn't matter, we have bigger issues right now-"

"No! It matters to me!" Her voice trembled, azure eyes brimming with tears, "You asked for one thing and now, because of me, you're not going to get it! The church was all you wanted-"

"That's not true..." Tenderly wiping a tear from her cheek, his cobalt blue eyes still locked on hers, "It doesn't matter."

"You wanted that church because its where your parents got married and where their funeral was held! My family are there but yours aren't and it was-"

"My family will be there too, in spirit. We could get married in Vegas, on a beach, on the Moon and they'd be there. And I have my other family there too... Kelsey, Chad, Joel, Angela, Ryan... You..." Dana wrapped her slender arms around his neck, burying her head into his shoulder as he pulled her further into him, "I don't care where I'm getting married... As long as I'm marrying you."

Dana's response was quiet and muffled, but Dustin was sure it was similar to, "I'm so sorry..." It took all of Dustin's willpower to fight the urge to jump in the couple's embrace, thank goodness for his Ninja training.

It was a minute or two before they finally parted, Dana now with oil hand prints on her arms, and Dustin could finally interrupt.

"Where do you live?"  
Dana looked at him in confusion, wiping under her eyes, "Mariner Bay-"

"I know that but like, where?"

"Meadowside."

"I know that area. C'mon, I'll take you home and you can get the book." He wiped his hands on the rag, mentally running through his route plan in his head.

Dana smiled softly, "Thanks Dustin but it's three hours away, Tommy won't let me go just for that."

"Three hours by car. I'm running us there."

"So we should get there by next thursday?" She laughed softly, "I appreciate it Dustin but-"

"C'mon, hop on my back."

Dana looked to her fiance with a look that clearly read 'is he drunk?' To which Carter could only respond with a shrug.

"Dude, if Tommy asks we just went to that underwater place for some supplies." Dustin directed to Carter as he gave up trying to coax Dana into a piggy back, "We'll do it this way then." He walked up to her and, with a squeal of protest from her, scooped her up into a bridal carry, "We'll be back in like an hour!" Dustin announced, either to reassure Dana or to let Carter know- he wasn't exactly sure himself.  
Carter blinked, in the time it took for that a gust of wind hit him followed by a second squeal from Dana and when he opened his eyes, the pair were gone.

In the distance, weaving through the trees, he could see a streak of yellow...

He scoffed, shaking his head with a smirk on his face; he wasn't kidding when he said he was going to run all the way.

* * *

"I said left!"

"I turned left!"

"Dustin! I know the way to my own house! You turned right!"

"Oh yeah!" With a final squeal, the world stopped appearing like a yellow blur to Dana and her house was in her line of vision. "Woah... That's big." Dustin gently put her down, Dana quickly dusting down her skirt for any imaginary pieces of dirt.

"Its a starter home, Wes' is a lot bigger... But we figured it would be a good home for children-" Dustin cocked his head to the side as she started up the driveway, following her down like an eager puppy.

"Kids?"

"Well yeah, we both kinda figured early on that we wanted to be younger parents and have a big family- the right house seemed appropriate." She bent down and removed a set of keys from a plant pot, "After the wedding though of course; I bet Dad will love that."

"The Captain?"

"Not our biggest fan right now." She answered with the comment tossed over her shoulder, unlocking the door and pushing it open. Dana paused in the doorway, pivoting around to face Dustin, "How many medical supplies do you reckon they'd have at Rootcore? You know, bloods, bandages, gauze, defibulators?"

"Its a giant tree..."

"Good point. We'll swing by the base and grab some. The Captain isn't on duty today, and you can meet my team." She smiled softly as Dustin's expression changed to a put out one, "I'll drive us there, give you a break. You never know, you might see a mermaid." She winked with a giggle as Dustin appeared confused, holding the door open for him to enter.

* * *

"So... You're a 17 year old time traveller... And he's an alien...?" Was the question Dana and Dustin heard when they arrived back at Rootcore.

"Dude wait what?" The ninja asked Jason, who had caused his confusion. The older man gave him a 'like hell if I know' shrug before gesturing to Troy and Orion and Dustin tilted his head in silent question.

Troy cleared his throat before he attempted to explain. "We're from 2025-"

"Power Rangers are still a thing in 2025?"

"Well, yes but we were actually Rangers in 2013. But we're from 2025-"

"But then how old were you?!"

"17."

"But you look 17 now!

" "Thats because I am... I'm born next year... I went back in time to become a Ranger and now I'm back in my own time... Orion though isn't a time traveller like me... Well he is but not originally... He's an alien so he doesn't age."

"Woahwoahwait- dude's an alien?"

"Yes."

"That...is so cool! I knew aliens existed!" Leo interrupted Dustin's excited rambling.

"... Dude, Andros is an alien."

"WHAT?! BUT HE LOOKS SO... PRETTY!"

"No need to remind us... Andros is pretty, the rest of us are just... Ew." TJ said dramatically.

"How'd you think it feels being a girl and around Andros?! Its irritating that he's so effortlessly pretty and then girls need makeup and-" Dana added before getting cut off by said alien.

"Okay guys, Dustin gets it! I am fabulous and pretty! I am god!"

"... Bit vain." Dustin remarked and Troy scoffed in agreement.

It was then that Taylor saw, from the corner of her eye, a rather mundane action; Tommy pulling up his sleeves slightly. It was what was revealed that caught her attention. "Whoa whoa hey, wait a minute," Taylor moved towards the older man and pulled his sleeves up further, revealing skin filled with lines and lines of ink. "Damn Hedgehog Head, I don't care about your hair 'cause that is a wicked tat." Taylor remarked, almost begrudgingly impressed.

"This old thing?" Tommy signalled down to his sleeve tattoos, "Had it done a couple of years ago, always had to wear long sleeved shirts when teaching to avoid influencing the students."

"Damn Doctor O, that's badass." Connor stated which earned a groan from half the other Red's with Jason calling over 'Don't inflate his ego.'

"Where'd you two go?" Tommy asked Dana, who had now taken a seat on the sofa beside Leo and Carter, this room was apparently functioning as a rec-room.

"The Aqua Base to get some medical supplies." She nodded down to the couple of bags Dustin was placing on the table, "Bloods, morphine, gauze, bandages, drugs, swabs, defibulator - the basics."

"Since when was a defibulator the basics?" Leo nonchalantly asked her to which she shrugged.

"I'll move it into our make shift med bay in a bit. I think Dustin needs a break from his running."

Dustin moaned, "Ah yeah." Before dropping down onto the floor at Hunter's feet, "Ex-ha-us-ted. I saw a mermaid!"

"He met Marina." Dana informed the Lightspeed Red who chuckled.

"I never thought I'd see the day, Taylor fangirling over Tommy Oliver; are you gonna get out your pom poms and cheer him on?" Taylor sent a cutting glare across the room to Wes who visibly shrank in his chair.

"Sure, but I forgot mine, can I borrow the ones you have for the unlikely event Jen comes back?" That remark was met by a few immature 'oohs', Troy mentally rolling his eyes, "I'm admiring his ink."

"Power Rangers shouldn't have tattoos, its bad for our public image." Jason said with seriousness in his tone, until his face broke out into a smile, "Which is a good thing the only team with their identities known are Lightspeed who conform to everything."

"Excuse you." Ryan shuck off his jacket and rolled his black shirt short sleeve back to show a rub on tattoo on his bicep, "Look at this bad boy."

Eric peered forward, looking at the 'tattoo' incredulously, "Isn't that the mouse from Cinderella?"

"He lost a bet." Carter defended, "He had to go to the beach covered in them, it was kinda amusing."

"Ain't no party like a Lightspeed party." Wes drily added, "Your sister is more likely to get a tattoo before you."

The Pink in question sank back into the chair, turning her face into Carter's side to hide her reddening cheeks- of course, this reaction would have gone unnoticed had Leo not been directly watching her with a knowing grin gracing his lips.

Eric instantly latched onto Leo's expression and Dana almost attempting to become invisible, "Wa-wa-wait... You have haven't you? Does Daddy know?"

"Shut up." She kept her head buried in Carter's side.

"And Daddy doesn't!" TJ leapt into the conversation- a goody goody rebelling with body ink? That seemed more interesting than planning his revenge on Andros (glue in shampoo should do it).

"Come on Girl Scout, show us."

She turned to face Eric, blue eyes narrowed into a jaundiced glare, "They're private-"

"'They're'? There is more than one?!" Wes chimed in, a goofy smile crossing his face, "I bet Daddy won't be impressed!"

"C'mon guys, leave her alone now." Troy spoke up in a sedate manner, "Haven't you got better things to do than pick on her? You know, like training or something?" He turned to Orion, "I told you the Legendary Rangers were just overgrown children when all together."

Wes spoke directly to Carter, "So, where are they?"

"I swear, if you tell him Carter, I will make the first three years of marriage a living hell for you." Dana snappily told him.

Carter gave her a reassuring smile before turning to Wes, "They're private."

Taylor, having finally finished analysing Tommy's tattoos closely, unbuttoned the top few buttons of her shirt, pulling the neck to the side to reveal a tiny, delicate feather on her collarbone. "I had this done after our time as Rangers. It hurt like hell and took three sessions." The details on the feather were remarkable, each tone carefully applied to give the impression of it curving along her bone and giving it a three dimensional appearance, "Eric didn't get one because he's a wimp. Cole had this tribal print on his bicep, honouring the tribe who took him in when his parents died." She added, feeling the need to speak for her Red who was outside with Billy and the Mystic Rangers, setting up security charms and systems (well, Cole was fitting them to the trees whilst Billy worked the mechanics).

"That's sweet." Dana spoke, slowly removing her morpher which made Carter raise his eyebrows, "I have three."

"Three?" Wes scoffed, "Very professional."

Dana promptly ignored Wes' comment, "I got this one done on my sixteenth- yes Wes, I used a fake Id." She held her left wrist up to show a date written in a scriptive font on the inner side, '19th September 1980'. "Its Ryan's birth date because I thought he was... Well, I didn't know he was still alive. He would've been eighteen and I had it in memory to him, its a little pointless now but I like it... And my watches, bracelets and morpher can hide it." Her fingers grazed over the date tenderly, "I wouldn't have it removed."

Wes swallowed a lump in his throat, his voice croaking, "I'm sorry- I didn't think-"

"Its fine." She answered sharply as she replaced the Morpher, "Its not like he's still gone."

Ryan watched his little sister with a new light on her- he hadn't known she had that. He'd assumed she hadn't cared because she was so young when he was taken, he hadn't imagined it had effected her as she grew up into the intelligent, level headed woman she was today. "You shouldn't cover it up..." He told her but she shook her head with a smile and removed her engagement ring.

"This one came after Kelsey threw an impromptu engagement party." She explained as she pointed to the tiny scriptive word at the base of her finger, "I cover it with my ring- but its so small you don't really see it unless you look close." She turned to Leo who, being the closest, could see it.

"'Carter'." He read out for the group, "Does he have a matching one?"

Dana laughed, "Its the only thing he'd get. He doesn't mind tattoos but they're not regulation so-"

"Say no more." TJ interrupted, "The man cannot ever break regiment. You two are nauseating just so you know."

"He can at times." Dana stood up, "This one was some stupid act of rebellion when I'd just turned eighteen that I've spent hours trying to cover with makeup when a Ranger." She turned to face the wall, lifting her blouse just enough to reveal a pale pink, red and lilac butterfly at the base of her spine. The details within it were almost equal to Taylor's- the wings inked to such skill that it appeared to those looking on that they were glittery, which of course could not be possible as tattoo inks did not contain glitter.

"You've got a tramp stamp." Wes choked back a laugh as Dana pulled her shirt back down rapidly. "Good thing Daddy doesn't know."

"Its not a tramp stamp!" Dana retaliated before looking down to Carter- infact, she wasn't entirely sure what a tramp stamp was and she knew he'd know- who shook his head.

"Of course he'd say that, he's marrying you, he wouldn't want to think his future wife is-" he cut himself off there, realising that maybe considered too mean, "Its a tramp stamp."

"It is not! Butterflies are beautiful and elegant."

"Its a tramp stamp-" Eric felt empathy for the fair haired woman, who almost looked like she might cry, and felt he should take action against Wes. He pulled the Red up onto his feet by grabbing his collar and tore his teeshirt up until it was covering Wes' head, revealing a pair of carrots on his shoulder blade.

"Rich boy here was in Italy after finishing high school. He decided that he'd get chilli's on him... But Mister-drink-a-lot, in his alcohol induced state, couldn't remember the italian for chilli's... So he ended up with carrots." He pulled the shirt back down, shooting a smirk at Dana who mouthed a 'thank you' to him.

"Well, at least I'm not afraid of needles!" Dana grabbed the bag of medical supplies from the table, ducking her head down as she did so- Dustin catching a glance of hurt in her eyes.

"You moving that stuff?" Tommy asked her as Wes and Eric continued to bicker, Dana nodded, "You've been nominated to take the training session tomorrow-"

"Why me? Carter, Eric or Taylor would be better, they've all lead teams at some point."

"Because you need to take leadership too, it'll help you improve."

Dana walked to the door, Dustin catching her wrist as she passed him. They meet each others gaze briefly before she pulled away and left the room, throwing a 'Fine. Whatever.' Over her shoulder to Tommy.

Dustin turned back to the group, "She looked about to cry."

"Nice going Carrot-boy." Leo chucked a cushion in Wes' general direction, "Idiot."

"What?! She's just being over-sensitive! It was a joke!"

Carter got to his feet, "Well, it wasn't funny if it upset her. Dana isn't over-sensitive, you were just being a jerk."

"She'll get over it."

"Sure she will, once I talk to her. She'll probably be standing in front of the mirror, looking at it contemplating getting it removed." He looked at Wes with a disdainful expression, "You just don't know when to stop do you Wes? I'm gonna help her with the medical stuff- night guys." He walked briskly out of the room before anyone else could respond, eager to catch up with his fianceé.

"God, that team need to lighten up." Wes dropped back into his seat, earning a scowl from a few Rangers- including Dustin who was becoming very protective of the couple since he aided Dana with contacting the church. "Okay, so who's next in show and tell?" He looked toward the icy stare of the non-talkative Ninja, "What about you tall, blonde and broody?" Silence followed the older man's question as he squirmed for a few minutes under the pure intensity of the ninja's glare.

Wordlessly, Hunter pulled off his shirt to reveal a Japanese character in black ink just above his heart, it's simple beauty lying in the effect of delicate brushstrokes. "It's the kanji for thunder. Dustin made us all get one with our element after we defeated Lothor." He then turned and bared his back to them. Down his spine were a set of roman numerals, each number separated by a small dot. "There's two dates- the first is the date Blake and I were adopted. The second is the day our parents died. I had it done after we saw their souls in the Cavern of Lost Spirits."

As Wes looked like he'd swallowed a brick, Hunter simply pulled his shirt back on. Leo tried to move the conversation away from the tense, awkward silence it was heading towards. "Uh so, you have one too huh?"

Dustin turned to him and gave him a sheepish grin. "Actually, I've got a bunch." The brunette mimicked his teammates actions and removed his shirt, revealing the ink that littered his upper body. He pointed to a tatto similar to Hunter's, "That's the kanji for earth, and this," he pointed to a dual-spiral on his left bicep. "Is an ANBU tattoo-" he paused at their confused expressions. "It's from this really awesome Japanese comic called Naruto that's about ninjas. Oh! This one," he pointed to another tattoo on his left hip. Completely black and made up of small and large strokes, it depicted two oddly shaped swords in an X formation, above it, a five point star made up of diamonds with a crown atop it; there were what seemes like chains linking the top of the swords to the crown. "Is from this video game called Kingdom Hearts. They're a pair of Keyblades called Oathkeeper and Oblivion. I also have a quote from there," he bared his back to reveal small, almost scriptive handwriting.

"'There is a light that never goes out.'" Trent read aloud, having been the closest.

"Got 'em when I was fifteen," Dustin admitted.

"Gutsy move," Leo said, vaguely impressed.

Dustin shrugged. "It was kinda like a phase, I guess. I'm just glad they're not crap." As Dustin shrugged his shirt back on, Taylor noticed Leo seemed like he was in deep consideration.

"What's with that look Johnny? We haven't converted you..have we?" She smirked, raising an eyebrow. Leo looked up, startled at her question, before running a hand through his hair.

"Well I mean I've been thinking about getting one done-"

"Aw, one for Ken-Ken?" TJ interrupted and Leo flushed slightly before responding.

"No! I've been trying to find a designer...woah." The remaining occupants turned to see what had caused him to trail off, only to be left awestruck at the tattoo that spanned Trent's upper back that the Ninjas and Connor were already examining. There, in impeccable detail and tone and surrounded by wisps of smoke, were a pair of Chinese guardian lions. Between them was a single date in Roman numerals. Trent seemed to notice the silence and glanced back at them, speaking whilst putting his shirt and sweater back on.

"The date is when my birth parents died. The lions I had done before that- my parents travelled a lot because of work so I spent a lot of my childhood taken care of by a nanny. Her name was An." Trent left it at that, obviously not really interested in elaborating.

Leo cleared his throat, "If you don't mind me asking, who did you get to design the lions."

"No one. I drew 'em myself." Most of the room gaped at him.

"...No way. Seriously?"

"Seriously." Trent leant back into his seat, whilst Leo nodding approvingly, "Why get someone to design something when you can design something yourself the way you want."

"Because we're not all wicked artists like you man." Connor stated, giving his teammate the nod of approval before turning back to the remainders of the group (as TJ had slyly vacated the area to complete his revenge prank and Ryan had decided to check on his sister and future brother-in-law - you know, in case she was still upset and Wes needed a beating... And he didn't like to think of Dana and Carter having more fun without him). "Trent spends hours working on pieces and it's like 'how can you sit there working on one person's face for so long without losing your mind?' But the things he makes are beautiful. Kira had the drawings he had done for her framed. "

"A lot of practise, I guess."

"How much do you charge to design?" Leo asked the white who momentarily appeared off guard.

"I-I don't-"

"I'll give you fifty bucks if you design something amazing like yours for me." Trent wasn't entirely sure if Leo was just pulling his leg as he regarded him sceptically but the older man appeared fully serious. "I'm thinking something for my shoulder. Kinda tribal but Mirinoi-"

"Is it something for Ken-Ken?" Wes cooed, earning a stern glare from the usually happy-go-lucky Galaxy Red.

"You on a roll to piss people off today Wes? The girls, the whole of the Lightspeed team..."

"Nope, it just keeps happening because no one can take a joke apparently. Look, she'll get over it, he'll cheer her up and then-" He gave a suggestive wink that made most of the occupants in the room groan, "What?"

"You just have to lower the tone, don't you dude? There's a standard of sophistication and you have to lower it all the time with jokes, pranks and sexual innuendos."

"I'm just saying! They're a couple and... Things happen. They're not the only ones here... Eric, Taylor... What's their names- Nick and Maddie?"

"They're not a couple." Troy butted in, "Yet anyway. Give it a few..."

"Lightspeed might be disciplined but I wouldn't put it past them, she has that look about her."

"We're on a mission." Tommy rose up to his feet, shoulders thrusted back to create further height to his six foot frame, "Hopefully everyone remembers that and can control themselves. No alcohol. No gambling. No rebellion. No- _that_. We've got to be serious and set an example for the Mystics. Get an early night Rangers, we've got an early morning tomorrow and an intense day of training." He walked out without another word.

The group fell into silence before Andros cut in, "That's Tommy right? Because that's not who I remember."

"Dude's stressed about Kat." Jason reasoned as the two ninjas bid goodnight and left, leaving just himself, Andros, Leo, Wes, Eric, Taylor, Trent, Connor, Orion and Troy- the latter four preparing to leave whilst the elder six appeared to be rebelling against Tommy's rules by remaining seated, "He's not going to admit it, but he is. Just give him a bit of a break for a couple of days- Wes."

"What?!"

"I mean it... The guy needs it."

Orion looked to his dark haired Latino appearing companion, whispering to him to avoid the others hearing, "She wasn't supposed to die like that."

"She only had a few weeks anyway."

"Still doesn't seem right."

"I know man, but we didn't come back in time to save her... We came to help them all. Besides, don't you want your bosses to be okay?"

"Of course I do." Orion's hand unconsciously crept up to his shoulder blade, touching the mark that was a reminder that even though his whole planet had been destroyed, he still had a home on Earth- somewhere for him to go for Christmas and Thanksgiving, a place to sleep at night instead of the locker he had been living in and a family who loved him even though they had enough on their plate constantly. They were his home now and he was eternally grateful for it, he wouldn't allow any harm to come to them as long as he was here, not after all they had done for him. He loved them almost as much as he loved his original family- eleven whole years they had been there for him and treated him like family. He'd die to keep them safe; that's what family do. "But what if we can't save everyone?"

Troy's dark eyes met Orion's blue, resting his hand comfortingly on his shoulder, "We just try our best. We've got one shot at this so make the most of it. They'll be okay, I promise you that."

Orion took a moment to process the shorter man's statement before nodding- the pair of them leaving to retire to bed.

"Fine Jase, I'll be on my best behaviour, scouts honour -"

Eric scoffed at the Red's attempt of a promise, "Like you were ever a scout."

"You realise she's pissed at you... And running the training tomorrow?" Taylor's lips curled into a smirk, "She's going to have it out for you."

"You don't know Dana too well do you?" Wes twisted in his hard backed chair to face her, "She's sugar and spice and all things nice. She'll give into anything, a little spineless-"

"Carter tell you that?"

"We've worked with her before." Wes answered assertively, "She doesn't really stand up for herself. Carter wouldn't say a bad word against her, too doe eyed for it, but we know it's true. She isn't feisty like Jen."

"Jen was one of a kind." Eric quickly added, "Dana's not as passive as you make out. Think Alyssa except with a little more hot headedness at times."

"She isn't hot headed." Leo defended, "She's a quick thinker and her decisions got her in some trouble like with Ryan but look what happened! He became good. She's matured and changed since you worked with her. She was _nineteen. _People change in four years you know."

"Fine, you believe that... But she won't give me stick in training tomorrow. She'll cry it out to Carter, he'll comfort her and she'll be pouty tomorrow. That's all."

The group fell into silence and Wes took this to be his cue to leave. It was a moment or two before Taylor finally broke the silence, "She isn't like that right?"

Leo choked back a laugh and shook his head, "We trade with Lightspeed regularly, so we'd know... Trust me when I say, she might have been a push over but now she's changed. He'll become her target, that's tomorrow's entertainment sorted."

Taylor nodded approvingly before she turned to her husband, "I'm telling you now, if your boyfriend keeps acting like a douche, I'll pumble him myself."

Eric raised his hands, "Hey, I ain't stopping you."

"Bed." Tommy's voice echoed over their morpher's, causing them all to look down at their devices, "Now."

Jason stood, stretching out a crick in his neck, "The martyr has spoken..."

* * *

**[A/N]**

_**GREG- Hey guys! Long time no see! Let's just say, 2016 has not been great for Sam and I...**_

**SAM- Like, it didn't even take a day to spiral down to hell.**

_**GREG- Basically, Sam lost a relative suddenly and I was rushed to hospital, emergency operation to save my life and the almost a month stay in hospital in different wards... If I didn't have the OP when I did, I would have been dead by morning- and again, it all happened suddenly. Because of this, I've had to drop out of Uni for the year which means Sam and I see less of each other which makes writing difficult... Please forgive us this time, it wasnt laziness it was genuinely unavoidable circumstances.**_

**SAM- We don't plan on giving up on any of our stories and we hope you guys don't give up on us and will be forgiving, if not supportive.**

_**GREG- This next year will be tough for us... I might have another two major operations (all because of medical negligence originally which almost made me die :( ) so our updates will depend on whether I can write. At the moment, they've been consistent between us so hopefully you'll be seeing another chapter soon!**_

**SAM- Alright, now we've got that out of the way, what did you think of the chapter?**

_**GREG- And what's your view? Power Rangers, tattoos- yay or nay?**_

**SAM- Oh and yeah, intrigue and sneaky kids, sneaking into the 'Reds Meeting'.**

_**GREG- And Dustin met a mermaid! Life goals accomplished.**_

**SAM- And Wes is terrified of Hunter, which I find absolutely amazing.**

_**GREG- And we can point out, we haven't intentionally made Wes a dick, it just happened... Stay with us, it isn't going to always be like this.**_

**SAM- Yeah, we didn't mean to, he isn't always, so...**

_**GREG- And Dana is just the victim of the day. Wes and her get along fine normally.**_

**SAM- I don't know, maybe there's something in rich boys water that's making him a dick.**

_**GREG- So what's TJ's excuse..?**_

**SAM- You just hate him. That's it. That's the excuse.**

_**GREG- OH YEAH! So anyway, hope you enjoyed.**_

**SAM- We'd love to hear what you guys thought and any speculations and questions you may have.**

_**GREG- Also... Kai... Kidnapped or at the bar? Who else is missing?**_

**SAM- Oh, and I feel like I need to mention Billy. He might seem a bit OOC but he isn't a teenager anymore and I was kinda inspired by Kyouya and Ouran in how he would be now, and I don't know, it just works. *le shrug***

_**GREG- And I just made Billy a bad ass... Yay Billy!**_

**SAM- He deserves so much yay.**

_**GREG- And Troy! 2025...!**_

**SAM- That kid sure does time travel a lot.**

_**GREG- Not very far though... Two decades before...**_

**SAM- More than most people.**

_**GREG- Speak for yourself...**_

**SAM- Something you wanna tell me Greg?**

_**GREG-... Nope...bye guys!**_

**SAM-Wait-! Now hold on a damn minute-! Sorry guys gotta go! Greg get back here's- I'm curious!**


	6. Drill Sergeant Mitchell

_**BLADE OF AURORA!**_

**_'Evil is rising. It's growing. It's getting stronger. To avenge Clare, the Mystic's will have to do just that.'_**

**_CarterXDana/EricXTaylor/RJXClare/MerrickXShayla/NickXMaddie/TommyXKat_**

**_Mighty Morphin'- Mystic Force._**

**_CHAPTER SIX_**

**_DRILL SERGEANT MITCHELL._**

"Tommy..."

He turned towards the voice to meet clear blue eyes. "Kat?"

"Why didn't you help me?"

A pang of guilt went through his chest. "K-Kat? W-What do you- I didn't know-!"

"You could've helped me Tommy," blue eyes shone clear with betrayal. "Why didn't you help me?"

"K-Kat I-"

She cut him off with a yelp, clutching her arm. She removed her hand to reveal blood and Tommy felt his throat close up. She yelped again as blood started seeping through a spot on her shirt, and then again, and again.

Tommy watched with growing horror as more and more blood appeared, completely frozen. There were now bruises and cuts littering the skin on her face when she looked up.

"Why won't you help me Tommy? Why won't you save me?"

"Kat! No, I can't-!"

"Because I'm not Kimberly?" She asked coldly.

"You failed me Tommy," Zordon's voice suddenly rang out, echoing. "You failed to protect your teammates."

The sheer volume of the voice seemed to vibrate through the air but still Tommy stood, frozen in place amd helplessly staring into crystal clear eyes.

Eyes that hated him.

"You failed."

Tommy awoke with a sharp gasp for air; he spent the next few minutes greedily gulping down as much air as he could and anchoring himself to reality.

Once his breath returned to him, Tommy turned his head to the other bed in the room, watching the sleeping form's chest rise and drop rhythmically; how could Jason sleep so easily? He contemplated waking Jason to talk to him about the nightmare but decided against it- It wasn't fair to wake him at five thirty in the morning to talk about his pathetic failure, how he let down his team and Zordon.

Tommy swung himself out of bed, tugged a shirt on over his sweat pants and padded out of the room in the direction of the kitchen. He must've been the only one fully up and about; there were noises behind the Ninja's door, the Megaforce Rangers appeared to be up and talking, definite snoring coming from Wes and Cole's room.

He turned into the kitchen off the hall and almost tripped at the blonde figure behind the breakfast bar with her back to him. Clad in an old red sweat shirt (much too big for her) and pale pink pyjama shorts, her hair falling in tousled, messy waves about her shoulders , pouring out a cup of coffee whilst jotting notes down on a sheet of paper- blissfully unaware of Tommy's presence. He stared, glued to the spot much like his dream. She continued to sip at the coffee, not knowing he was there.

No.

Haunting him in his sleep was one thing, but in reality was another story.

A hand touched Tommy's shoulder, jolting him back and Tommy met Jason's concerned eyes, seeing the 'You okay man?' behind them. He nodded but refused to move from his place whilst Jason took up a spot next to the woman, "Morning."

"Another early riser huh?" She chimed and Jason nodded behind him in Tommy's direction. The fair haired woman twisted her head and gave Tommy a soft smile.

_Dana._

It wasn't Kat, it was Dana...

With her blue eyes, long golden hair, pale skin, slim frame... Heck, it might as well be Kat haunting him!

"Morning Tommy." She softly spoke, picking up her cup and turning to face him, "You don't look so good, problems sleeping?"

Now she taunts him?!

"Tommy's never been a great sleeper." Jason answered, "He gets up early to train."

"Us too, or to work weird shifts. Carter's normally up by now- up before me anyway- but I guess he's exhausted from yesterday. He was practically in hibernation when i-"

"You're not Kat." Tommy whispered under his breath.

Maybe if he said it enough times it would sink in. She wasn't Kat.

She could never be Kat.

"Like a bear in hibernation?"

She laughed and the chimes within grated on Tommy, "Less furry. It's disappointing really because he makes the best coffee, just don't tell him I said that. Ryan's the one who can sleep through anything. Leo has his work cut out for him sharing."

"You're not Kat." Tommy stated again.

"Training sorted?"

"I guess... Are you sure you don't want to take it?"

"C'mon, you need to learn to take leadership. If it's about Wes giving you grief, he was put in his place last night."

"Its not just Wes..."

"You're not Kat."

She continued, "There are a lot of Reds here and its kinda intimidating."

"You'll be fine." Jason's eyes flicked over Tommy, "Tommy?"

Dana's attention turned from the Red to Tommy, her face growing in concern. She walked around the bar, gently placing a hand to his arm and spoke in her professional tone, "Sit down Tommy."

He pulled away from her, glaring into her concerned eyes and speaking through gritted teeth, "You're not Kat."

Dana appeared confused, "No Tommy, I'm not. I'm Dana, remember?"

"You're not Kat."

"Okay, how about you sit down- Jason, get something with some sugar content and a glass of water now, he's in shock- Tommy its okay just-"

"You're not Kat!" He yelled it directly at her this time, and she jumped back looking fearful, "You're not Katherine!"

"I never said I was!" She reasoned, "Tommy calm down-"

"You're not Kat."

"You're grieving Tommy... Kat's dead, remember." Jason knew those few words were a big mistake for the Pink to make.

Tommy grew angrier, every muscle stiffening before he let his impulses take over. His hand connected with her cheek quicker than anyone had time to react. The smack louder than expected with the impact harder than any of the three thought as Dana's head jolted in the direction with a small whimper. Tommy went to hit her again but Jason was swifter than given credit for, grabbing Tommy's closed fist and wrapping his arms around Tommy to stop him hitting her again.

"Stop it Tommy! Calm down. Easy." He whispered as he attempted to drag him over to the door, "We gotta talk now."

Dana stood dumbfounded, her hand clutched at her now reddening cheek and tears threatened to prick at her eyes. She watched in stunned silence, trembling slightly from the shock of the assault, as Jason dragged Tommy away, calling back over his shoulder, "He didn't mean it! He's sorry!"

Jason continued to drag Tommy down the corridor and out of Rootcore before he dropped his grip and turned to the man who appeared bordering on breaking point, "The hell you think you're playing at? You can't just hit whoever you feel like because they're not Kat! And you especially don't assault Dana Mitchell unless you want her father to wipe your sorry butt from the face of the world!"

"She said Kat was dead! She said that! She was mocking me and then said that!"

"No Tommy! Come on, listen to what you're saying! Calm down and listen to yourself!"

"She laughed at me! I failed Zordon, I failed Kat, I failed everyone! Kat's dead because of me! I let her die!"

"No Tommy, you didn't! You couldn't have known, no one did!"

"She died because of me! She was alone and scared... I let her down!"

"It could've been anyone of us- we never saw it coming." Jason looked upon the other man with softening eyes.

"I promised Zordon I'd protect- I let him down. He told me I'd let everyone down... Kat died, is that what it takes to prove I'm not cut out to have a morpher?! She died Jason! She died because of me!"

"No she didn't!" Jason yelled, patience slower withering. "She died because those monster's are targeting old Rangers! You can't do anything about it and you certainly can't go around assaulting people who look like her! So, you know what you're gonna do? You're gonna calm down and focus on taking down those guys that did that to her!" He levelled Tommy with a hard glare.

"I never said she looked like her... But she does, I guess- If I couldn't protect her, how can we take down the thing that killed her?! I can't do it Jason, Zordon said I'm not good enough! You take control, you're a better leader than I'll ever be!"

"You didn't know what was happening! When was the last time you even spoke to Kat, let alone met up with her! You can't protect someone from something you don't know is there!"

"You would've known! If it was Kimberly! How many more are going to die because of me?! I let her die! She told me- she told me if it was Kim I wouldn't have let her die. She blames me... Zordon blames me."

"No, I wouldn't have. Not if it was Kat or if it was Kim. No one blames you Tommy. I don't blame you, no one does... and Kat and Zordon, they wouldn't blame you either."

Tommy almost seemed to be comprehending his words but his eyes were still clouded with fear and guilt. "They told me they do... In my dream. She was bleeding and I couldn't move to stop it. She was dying and I just let her."

"That wasn't her, it was all that guilt you've got making itself known."

"It was! She was asking why I couldn't save her and then she- and Zordon told me how disappointed he was. I'd let everyone down... When I went in the kitchen, I thought maybe Kat was okay- that maybe I imagined it... But it wasn't her. It was someone else and- she told me Kat was dead! I know she's dead! It's my fault! I don't need reminding how I fucked up! She shouldn't have said it!"

"She was trying to help you! And what did she get in return? A slap across the face! What you saw, Kat and Zordon, that was a dream Tommy, caused by guilt and your incredible self-loathing ability!"

Something seemed to click inside Tommy's mind and his eyes seemed to lose their glassy look, replaced by understanding. "I hit Dana...? Shit. I hit Dana Mitchell. I didnt- I blacked- I wasn't in control and- I didn't mean to- is she okay? I just saw red- I slapped Dana Mitchell..."

"Yes. Yes you did. What are you gonna do about it?"

"Your motorcycle looks like an appealing answer. I can't go back in there. I hit Dana. I hit a girl. I hit a girl who looks like she should be on her way to school. I hit a girl whose fiancé looks like he could probably throw me through a metal wall if I pissed him off enough, and I have a feeling slapping his fiancée counts as pissing him off. I'll go home and you take over, sound good?"

Jason slapped him. "No you idiot. You're gonna walk right up to her, apologise for your behaviour, and take whatever punishment she or anyone else gives you like a man!"

"Dude, that hurt!" He said as he clutched his cheek, "I don't think she'll want an apology right now... And I don't know if you've noticed, but her fiancé, brother and quite a few of the Rangers have quite a liking to her so basically... They're all gonna beat me to a pulp! You hit me! If I've pissed anyone off in my life its you so hit me! Then I'll feel better. C'mom, punch me- punch me right here!" He indicated his jaw, "I know Zordon would've but he was just a floating head."

"No, I might later, but not now. And yeah, she won't want an apology- she'll want a sincere apology, and then some grovelling. Accept your mistake and your punishment."

"Seriously, just punch me because if you don't someone else will." Tommy sat himself down on the dried leaves, "I think I need to work on an apology, it's not my strong suit. When's Kat's funeral? I owe her one too."

"In two weeks. I'll punch you after you're done figuring out your speeches- can't afford to have you lose anymore brain cells."

"Can you help me...? You were better with those... Seeing as you always had to apologise to Kim... And Trini... And Billy... And Zack... Basically you were a walking apology."

"Well after that, _how can I not?_" He rolled his eyes.

"I'm aiming for you to punch me. You're carrying extra timber around your stomach too."

"Yeah, I'm just gonna sit here and watch you struggle."

"... I'll key your bike."

* * *

Taylor took in the blonde still in her pyjamas with a smirk- so much for discipline on that team. "Is today a pyjama day?"

Dana didn't respond, keeping her back facing Taylor. She brought a hand up to her face, wiping under her eyes quickly and sniffing.

Huh?

Taylor joined Dana's side and was taken aback by the fact Dana appeared to be crying. "What's up with-" Her sight fell on a giant red hand print on her cheek. Anger bubbled inside Taylor, "Please tell me your fiancé didn't so that." Dana didn't answer which gave Taylor enough of an impression that Carter had been the one to hit her. "Right."

She stormed back out of the kitchen, toward the quarters with Dana in tow, still in silence but apparently trying to stop Taylor going where she was planning to as she grabbed her arm and tried to pull her away but Taylor was rage filled now. She needed to let loose.

She stormed into the Pink and Red Rescue Ranger's room, surprising the occupant who appeared to have just woken up, stretching out a crick in his neck, in his boxers shorts.

"Hey Day, when did you get up-" He turned his head and was met with both blonde women standing just in front of the closed door, Dana with her head hung in shame to stop Carter seeing the mark on her face. He jumped back and embarrassment flooded his cheeks, "Taylor! You cant just barge in like that! Don't you knock?!" He looked around the room desperately for a pair of jeans... Shorts.. Anything to cover himself with. "Anything could've been happening!"

"The hell is your problem?!" Taylor barked as she stopped just in front of the almost naked man, totally unfazed by his current state of dress. Dana remained by the door, using her hair to shield her face.

Carter continued to look for his jeans but paused long enough to glance up at the fuming blonde, "My problem?! You're the one who just came in!"

"I mean God, why the hell would you do that?!"

"Do what?! Storm into someone's bedroom like that?! I agree, that is pretty nuts!"

Taylor glared at the man in an agitated manner, completely seething at the fact he wouldnt accept what he had done. "And here I thought you were a decent person, and stop trying to change the subject!"

Carter gave up searching. He returned her glare with his narrowed eyes, forgetting all embarrassment. How dare she question his morals! He wouldn't say he was a saint- far from it when he joined Lightspeed- but he wasn't a bad person! "'I am a decent person! Just indecently dressed right now! Im not comfortable arguing with you like this- over what i don't know- so please leave until I find my damn jeans!"

"'How could you do that to her!?"

Huh? He blinked in confusion, not registering her comment at first. Do what to who? The only girl he'd been around in the last seven hours was Dana... And he was pretty sure he hadn't done anything to her. "Now I'm really out the loop. Done what to who?! I've _just_ woken up!"

"Don't act innocent!"

Who was acting?! He was pretty sure he was innocent! Unless he had mysteriously slept walked last night and pissed Dana off- or any of the girls- which was entirely unlikely as Dana was a ridiculously light sleeper at times, then he was certainly innocent! "Oblivious, innocent, out of the loop. Seriously, get out now. You can't come barging in here, picking a fight with me and accusing me of stuff without even letting me know what! If you came in here for an argument or a fight, try down the hall, two doors to your right - I'm sure Eric or Wes can entertain you!"

"Don't act like you don't know!"

"I really don't know what you are on about. Now go Taylor!"

"Take a look then, maybe it'll remind you!" Taylor grabbed onto Dana's arm and pushed her into Carter's bare chest.

Carter caught her, pushing her back to an arms length away. "The hell-?" He looked down at Dana and quickly realised something was up with her, Taylor's verbal attack had kept him distracted from her stance. "Day?" His tone softer than moments prior, "C'mon, talk to me..." He gently tilted her head up to meet his gaze. Across her left cheek, along the cheekbone particularly, a violent red mark stood out against her almost porcelain complexion. His thumb grazed over the mark as he registered it to be a hand print. "Ryan?"

Dana shook her head.

A Ranger had hit her?

His blood boiled as that clicked in his mind and that Taylor had accused him of it. "You thought I hit her?" His eyes darted up to look at the ex-yellow who now appeared bewildered, "Do you think that little of me that you'd think I would hit the woman I'm marrying?! The hell is wrong with you to jump to that conclusion?! I wouldn't hit anybody without a reason, especially not Dana! Besides, the hand print is too small to be mine!" He lowered his gaze to Dana again, "Who hit you?" She bit her lip nervously, the tears still pricking the backs of her eyes, "Dana... Talk to me baby..." Dana was still in shock and no words would form. "Wes?" He suggested and yet again she shook her head. "Eric?" He doubted that one as Eric did have high morals but he couldn't leave anyone out. "Leo?" He decided the likelihood of Cole, Dustin or Leo being the person was about the same as the demons handing themselves in.

It carried on this way until he reached, "Tommy?"

Dana's azure blue eyes darted down to her feet.

Tommy Oliver.

"Tommy hit you? Where is he?" Dana grabbed onto his arm tight, eyes pleading with him not to go, "Day, he hit you and he isn't going to get away with it. Stay here." With that, he brushed away her hands and stormed out of the room past Taylor who followed after him.

"How dare you." Were the angry words Tommy processed after being roughly shoved against a tree by his shirt. He looked up, somewhat disorientated, into enraged cobalt eyes and quickly averted his gaze. He said nothing; he couldn't justify his actions and Carter was not the one he needed to apologise to.

His silence only seemed to fuel Carter's rage. "Aren't you even gonna say anything?" Carter shouted into Tommy's face, "You think it's okay to hit her?!"

Jason, overcoming his slight shock of Carter grabbing Tommy jumped up, "Carter cool-"

"Don't tell me what to do Jason!" He sniped, glare still focused on Tommy.

"I was gonna say, what is this? Casual Tuesday?" His eyes drifted down to Carter's black boxers. Not that Carter cared especially- it wasn't like he was naked- he was infuriated with Tommy and Jason's sarcasm only added fuel to the fire.

"How dare you! What did she do to you?! Or do you just go around hitting people on your team?!"

"You don't know the full story." Tommy finally stated just as Taylor stalked up to the group, a similarly pissed expression on her face.

"Then enlighten us because I want to know what excuse you can give to justify the bruise that's going to come up on her face."

"I don't need to justify myself to you."

"Wrong answer." Taylor grabbed Tommy by the collar, elbowing Carter to the side, and threw him down to the ground. "So what, you randomly decided she could do with a slap?!"

"Leave him alone. Tommy didn't mean it." Jason stepped infront of Taylor, creating a barrier between her and Tommy (who didn't seem to want to fight back).

"Didn't mean it?!" Carter repeated, "He hit Dana. I know Dana better than anyone and so I know she wouldn't do a thing that would justify that sort of treatment!"

"Dude." TJ called as he walked out Root Core, "You guys shouting is waking the place up- why the hell are you in your underwear? I didn't get the dress down memo." He stopped just short of the group, seeing the anger in two of the four faces, "Uh-oh, who we gotta kill?"

"Tommy."

"No opposition from me... But why?"

"He hit Dana!"

TJ's jokey expression dropped, replaced with one of pure confusion. "He hit-? Why?"

"She was trying to help me."

"You hit her because she was trying to help?! The fuck is wrong with you?!" Taylor spat. Carter appeared about to erupt into a second rage filled attack on Tommy.

Jason did not want to be stood between him and his target, he wasn't suicidal after all. "Tommy." Jason hissed but Tommy had already reverted back to his silent state, "Look, guys, Tommy didn't mean it. He wants to apologise to her-"

"Like he's going anywhere near her." Carter spoke through gritted teeth. His hands curled into fists that he was struggling to keep at his side and not at Tommy's face. "You can't just hit her then expect-"

"Turn the volume down bone heads. Some of us were asleep." Eric shouted as he and Wes joined the group, one in his pyjamas whilst the raven haired man appeared dressed for a jog.

"Wanna explain?" Wes' eyes drifted down to Carter's boxers, "A little nippy for that attire isn't it? Save it for the bedroom."

"Hey guys, anyone know why...what's going on here?" Connor asked, brow raised, as he exitted the building and Trent walked out just after him, mirroring his expression. Connor focused in on Carter and realisation dawned in his eyes. "Think Dana wanted me to give these to you," he tossed a pair of jeans at the firefighter. "She wasn't really specific or anything, kinda just shoved 'em into my arms, but it seems pretty obvious now. So, again, what's the haps?"

Carter pulled on his jeans hurriedly, silently grateful that Dana was more organised than he was, with his glare never leaving Tommy.

Connor exchanged a look with Trent before he continued, "We could hear arguing... You've woken up the majority of the people in there."

"Ah, so I was right!" Wes turned to his side kick, "See, that was Ryan and Leo arguing over a pillow."

"Ryan must be annoying if he made Leo pissed-"

From the door, Leo walked backwards out, shouting to someone just out of sight, "You can't do that! I thought Maya was a little strange but you- you take the bullet!" He span on heel, strolling calmly to the gathering group. "So... How's everyone's morning?"

"He hit Dana." Taylor spat, jerking a thumb in Tommy's direction.

The five new, oblivious Rangers took a second to process the statement before Connor spoke for the group. "Dana as in Dana- Dana? Five foot eight? Blonde? Blue eyes? Wears pink?"

"How many Dana's do you know kiddo?" Eric scoffed, "The fuck did you hit her for?"

"Just leave him alone okay?" Jason snapped, "He feels bad enough already-"

"Well he damn well should! She's Dana!" Leo stated.

"Yeah, its like a hitting a cat..." Wes added, a crease forming on his forehead, "Actually, a cat would put up more of a fight..."

Jason was about to respond but paused at rumbling sound that was slowly becoming louder. His brows furrowed as he tried to locate the source. The next thing anyone knew, Tommy yelped as his body was dragged beneath the ground until only his head stuck out of the earth. Everyone stared in confusion as Dustin sprung up from below the surface, a cold glare on his usually bubbly face.

That was the scene the five Mystic Rangers walked into.

"How dare you hit Dana." Dustin said coldly.

"He what?" Xander asked, his voice echoing the disbelief and anger his teammates were feeling.

Jason looked back over his shoulder and spotted Dana watching cautiously from the doorway just in the shadows. He turned back to the Mystics, "Maybe we should hire a skywriter just to get the message out quicker."

"Tommy hit Dana because she was helping him, Carter was pretty much naked, Taylor's got a human punching bag, Ryan is weirder than Maya and Dustin did some weird Earth sucking humans in thing," TJ informed the team before turning to Leo, "This would make a good tv show."

"Yeah, have fun writing that one."

Chip cocked his head, "Whose Maya?" His voice was overshadowed by Vida's fuming voice.

She stepped closer to Tommy's head, "He hit Dana?"

"How many more times do you all need to say it?!" Jason said aggravatedly. He stared down the Earth Ninja, "Pull him out."

From the tree that Carter had pinned Tommy to upon his arrival, Cole jumped down. Having watched the whole scene, from Jason dragging Tommy out to the present scene, thoroughly disgusted with what he had seen. "You're all as bad as him!" He stood in front of Tommy's head, "He does something violent, so you retaliate with another violent act? Where is the justice in that? He feels bad enough as it is and then you cause physical harm? I thought we were the good guys but I must be wrong because this just seems like we're as bad as the Orgs- Demons- Mutants- whatever you know them to be-"

Jason looked back to the door again, Dana had moved to the outside, holding her brother back by the arm. Ryan turned back to his sister, holding her gaze silently as if holding a telepathic conversation before he nodded. She dropped his arm and he enveloped her in his arms...

"Now that you don't see everyday..." Jason muttered and turned back to catch the end of Cole's rant.

"- head in the ground! What he did is wrong but what you're doing is just as bad!" Cole turned specifically to Taylor, "Hurting him isn't worth it."

"Someone who speaks sense." Jason said. Cole stood next to the man proudly, reminding Jason briefly of their mission to the moon- that seemed like decades ago now. "Dustin pull him up, everyone else go back to your own business. Training begins in an hour."

The Ranger's dispersed and Dustin reluctantly pulled Tommy back onto land before drifting off to wake Hunter.

Carter stared Tommy down and spoke sternly, "Stay away from her." He stalked back to the door, stopping by the Mitchell siblings who were now talking quietly. The Red wrapped his arm around Dana's shoulders and the three went inside.

Eventually, only Cole and Jason remained outside.

"I'm pretty sure I said a similar thing to him about Kimberly." Jason noted. He lightly punched Cole in the arm, "You still got it- level head, calmness... Not bad Rookie."

Cole looked up at Jason and returned the man's smile, "That title's not mine anymore."

"You'll always be it to me, you've just earned even more stripes then before."

"We're not going to work as a team if we're always at each other's throats." Cole stated, "They'll destroy us."

"I know that, I'm just hoping they learn it." The elder sighed. Working in a big group was tough, but a group of hot heads would be worse- they needed something to bring them together.

* * *

Maya sat in a meadow on Mirinoi picking flowers when she heard someone approach her.

"Kai! But you've been missing...where have you been?" Maya asked and the blue smiled at her.

"I'm not missing, I'm right here, silly." He said walking towards her. "But I want to show you something Maya."

"Really? What do you want to show me?" She asked eagerly.

"I can't tell you."

"But why not?"

"Because it's a surprise."

"Wow! A surprise?"

"That's right. Come on, let's go!" He smiled and walked, Maya happily following his footsteps.

She didn't see his smile shift into something different.

* * *

"Okay... Hey guys, I appreciate-" Dana's voice was drowned out by the other Ranger's chatting, only a handful paying attention to her. Her confidence dropped down further and she wondered how her father had managed this sort of thing- trust her to get the meek genes in the family. She tossed a look to Taylor which was quickly interpreted as 'what do I do?'.

"Let them know whose boss." Taylor whispered into her ear, glancing down at her clipboard, "They won't take you seriously unless you show you mean business. Think of it like being in the ER."

"They don't take me seriously even when I'm not trying to be in control, I'm the minor. Can't you please do this?"

"Hey, Jason and Tommy wouldn't have pushed for this unless they had a solid reason. So... Prove Wes wrong." Taylor whistled, sharp and loud which instantly caught everyone's attention, "There we go _Captain_."

"Thank you, I guess." Dana cleared her throat and readdressed the group. "So, before we can get to sparring, I kinda need to see your ability levels for comparative reasons. I know how the majority of the Reds work from what I've been told, although it could be bias for any of you other than Carter, Leo, Wes and Eric, only because I've worked with them before. Aside from that, its a clean slate. We need to determine well matched pairs and to do that Jenji created an assault course."

"I feel ten again." Wes voiced and Dana looked down at the ground- deciding she shouldn't show his digs were hurting her. She looked up, focussing on Carter who watched her encouragingly.

"At Lightspeed, we hated these because they showed every weakness. For me, my upper body strength wasn't great but I had high agility compared to the others. This creates a clear image of who is well rounded and who has areas for improvement; everyone will have at least one. You'll start the course against a person we've roughly matched you with- these are not your definite sparring partners. Taylor and RJ will record times and then we'll pair up more accordingly. Any questions?"

"Yeah, will you be joining in or have you some floral emergency?"

Dana took a deep breath, allowing the question hang in the air before she would respond. Approach this just like her father would, "Does it bother you Collins if I do have floral issues?" She walked up to the dark blond, squaring up to him the best she could. "Because, if that is where your concern lies maybe you should invest in a career as a wedding planner. I suggest you pipe down or hop on your high horse and gallop back to Silver Hills and have a look into that career. How does that sound?"

Wes' eyebrows shot up in surprise, "Okay, someone's got an attitude."

"Does my attitude bother you? Isn't that a shame. How about you suck it up and drop-" She kicked the back of his knees so he fell to the ground kneeling, "And give me fifty."

"Do you accept MasterCard?" He asked.

"For that, let's make it a hundred. Moan again and we'll keep doubling it." She crouched down so she was level with him, "I have all day to stand here watching you suffer - my tramp stamp and I would take great delight in it. Hop to it." She stood again and dusted down her shorts before she returned to her usual sweet tone, "Anymore questions?"

"Can you do that again so I can get that on film?"

Dana smirked and faced Eric, "I trust Wes will do it again later, just have your camera ready."

"So he doesn't- have to- do this and yet- he-"

"How many have you done Wes?"

"Fifty." He lied; he'd barely managed twenty and the other eighty looked like a long shot.

"Bullshit." Taylor stated.

"Agreed. If you managed fifty with such ease, lets add another hundred on top. So, really now, any questions?" When no one stepped forward she smiled, "Great so lets begin. You see the course? It looks simple right? Tyres, obstacles, monkey bars, shoot down, crawling, more obstacles, speed, balance. Stuff you did in High-" She noticed Ryan and Cole stepped back quietly and guiltily corrected herself, "Things you've done before as Rangers. Basic ground rules. Mystics, Ninjas, Connor, Trent, no using your powers. This is about your own skill, and whilst your powers add to that, its not fair when put up against the elder guys who probably aren't as agile as they once were. Try and cheat, we will know and you'll face a similar fate as Wesley. Jenji and Clare will be throwing curve balls in the tasks, so always be on your toes. It isn't just about how fast you complete the task, you'll be given a score at the end. You'll be allowed one weapon- as close to a blaster as you have in your itinerary; Rescue Blasters, Thermal Blasters- things like that. A word of advice given by my Father to a friend, 'You have to use this -'" She pointed to her head, "'Before you can ever use that."' To the Rescue Blaster in her hand. "Time score won't mean anything if you get the lowest score overall. Always think before you do because in the field there are no do-overs when you make a mistake. I haven't seen what Jenji created so it is a level playing field for all of us. And that's it for now." She turned to Taylor, "Who do we have first?"

"Wes and Carter but -"

"Yeah that's a bust." Dana scanned the group, "Let's set a bench mark with Jason and Tommy."

"Set a bench mark? Are you expecting us to finish last?" Jason spoke with false indignation, but it was clear to the Pink he was kidding.

"Of course not Jason, we thought you could set the score for people to aspire to but if you prefer, I'll go first."

"Dana and Vida it is then." Taylor stepped back, "Take your marks."

"It's not so bad." Dana told the younger pink as they took to the starting marks, "Everyone's first time is pretty bad-"

"Dirty."

"Three hundred now Wes!" She called back over her shoulder, "Think every move through and be aware of Jenji."

Vida looked over at the overgrown cat and scoffed, "It's not him I'm afraid of."

"Then you'll be fine. Besides, you're in commission, this will be a breeze for your team."

"Ready?" The pair took up their positions as Taylor brought a whistle up to her lips.

The shrill squeak got the pair started. Dana went into her zone that she had grown accustomed to as a Ranger; Vida, a little more nervously, tried to keep up ground but not being use to this type of training, she was struggling .

The crowd watched on with the Reds placing bets on who would get the highest score.

"It's going to be Cole." Leo stated, "Think about it, swinging from trees must do something."

Carter looked over to his fiancée and smiled, "Out of the guys he'll probably win but this is Dana's thing. She was brought up on this and still does them, every new recruit has to do it."

"She's been in retirement a while dude." TJ crossed his arms over his chest, "I reckon Troy."

"Don't underestimate anyone." Troy warned them, "They might be in retirement but that doesn't mean they're not fit."

"Oh now that was a dirty move." Andros outwardly thought as Jenji created a dark cloud to envelope Vida on the beam. "She'd been doing so well until then." She fell from the beam but, much to her strength, climbed back up and continued on even though she was clearly in pain.

"She's hurt her foot." Cole said with his voice full of concern.

"Vida'll be fine." Nick asserted, "She's a fighter."

"How the hell can you score an assault course?" TJ questioned.

"Every target hit is two points. Outer ring is one. Falling over is negative one, as is unwise shooting-" Carter explained as if it was rooted into him.

"Meaning?"

"Don't shoot flammables." Carter answered, "I'm the anecdote Dana used. Finish within two minutes three points, three minutes two points, four minutes one point. Anything above is nothing. It gets combined with your other score and that is your overall total." He shrugged at the puzzled looks, "She's following her dad's techniques." The first whistle blew, signifying someone had finished- Dana- with the second whistle thirty seconds later. Dana exchanged a high five with Vida, slinging Vida's arm across her shoulder to take part of her weight and they slowly limped back to the group.

"Sit down, I'll look over your foot in a second." Dana told Vida who dropped to the floor, flopping onto her back and panted with a thumb up. Dana was a little out of breath, clearly dying for water and to sit down but she kept up all professionalism. "What were the times?"

"Vida- Three twenty one." Taylor responded, "Overall score, nineteen."

"That's good for a first attempt Vida." Dana offered but Vida just gave a second thumbs up, "And RJ?"

"Two minutes twenty." He answered as Wes crashed to the ground face first after his arms had given away from tiredness. "Score- Forty one."

Ryan scoffed, "Gone down Sis."

Dana shrugged with an amused grin, "Hey, I'm not eighteen anymore and ten seconds, three points down isn't bad. Let's just see how you do Burger Boy." Magically, a whiteboard appeared next to her with everyone's names written on it along with a grid titled 'Times' 'Scores' and 'Vs'. "Thanks Jenji!" She called back and jotted down the two stats. "Great. There are the two bench marks. Good luck everyone. So let's have Tommy and Jason." She let Taylor and RJ take the pair away and knelt down to deal with Vida's foot.

"You did great Vida," She spoke as she checked the reflexes, "I bet if you could have used your powers it would've been a higher score."

"It's not about powers," Vida grimaced from the pain, "this was about us as normal people."

"You got back up and carried on, I definitely wouldn't have when I was first starting out. Can I give you some advice though? Never aim your blaster directly at the head. Four out of ten times you'll miss because they will move. If you're close enough, use baton mode, if not shoot their leg. They can't run then."

"Dirty move." Vida joked.

Dana met her gaze and they exchanged a smile, "Hey, just because we're stereotyped as the girly, sweet, push over members of the team doesn't mean we cant play dirty." She placed her foot down, "Just a twist, you'll be fine."

* * *

**[A/N]**

_**GREG: Hey guys! How you keeping? We're doing good! Another week, another update- if you're still reading! So, we're beginning to get into the story, believe it or not, and we hope you're enjoying it!**_

**SAM: Yah, we're actually beginning to move along with the plot now now that everyone has a better idea of who everyone is.**

_**GREG: And we're beginning to see the different cliques and lil groups. Now, let's give Tommy a break, he's grieving and just can't process it all. It's heartbreaking really.**_

**SAM: We never said he'd handle it well, but whatever. Any who, we have the bonding and the friendship groups appearing, and things are heading places.**

**_GREG: And we have training lead by the mini Mitchell. Seriously, there is a reason Wes is a bitch to her, and it will come out in the wash sooner or later. But that's all we can divulge for now. _**

**SAM: Mmhmm, it'll all makes sense eventually. And some pink bonding going on too.**

_**GREG: This chapter is a two parter so the next part we'll see a lil more training. Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it! And it's a bye from me!**_

**SAM: Hope you're all doing well and ciao guys!**


	7. Drill Sergeant Mitchell Part 2

_**BLADE OF AURORA!**_

**_'Evil is rising. It's growing. It's getting stronger. To avenge Clare, the Mystic's will have to do just that.'_**

**_CarterXDana/EricXTaylor/RJXClare/MerrickXShayla/NickXMaddie/TommyXKat_**

**_Mighty Morphin'- Mystic Force._**

**_CHAPTER SEVEN_**

**_DRILL SERGEANT MITCHELL PT.2_**

Dana was finishing up writing the times for Nick and Troy when a pair of arms enveloped her from behind. She squealed in surprise but smiled at the familiarity and leaned back into him.

"I'm so proud of you for putting Wes in his place." Carter whispered in her ear. He pecked a kiss to her cheek before loosening up enough to let her carry on writing Dustin's time and score.

"You're sweaty ." Dana told him with her nose scrunched, "At least tell me you beat Wes."

"According to Taylor. Two twenty one-"

"Getting slow Grayson."

"And thirty seven."

"Below Eric." Dana furrowed her brow, "I'm still on top?"

"Dirty..."

She playfully hit his arm, "Don't you start with that too. What's with you Reds and having filthy minds when altogether?"

"Like you girls don't gossip."

"Obviously but that's Kelsey bullying me into revealing all. This is the last round right?"

"Hunter and Trent."

"Okay. I was sure you, Eric and Troy would get the highest scores."

"I told you that you didn't need to get in shape for the wedding. You're perfect the way you are. Anymore 'in shape' and you'd be a circle."

"Depressing, I was going for a hexagon. And you are ridiculously cute but still sweaty." She twisted to kiss him but Hunter limping over with score sheets interrupted her.

"PG13." He stated as he handed the sheet over and joined the crowd catching their breath.

Dana shook her head and wriggled away from Carter, "You should go join them before they decide I'm bias."

"I just thought I'd say, you standing up to Wes was kinda hot," He stepped back and Dana laughed, "Little bit sexy. Is that weird?"

"You have an obtuse definition of sexy if you think a drill sergeant mode is hot. Are you sure you're marrying the right Mitchell?"

"I hope so, Ryan's just not feminine enough and your father doesn't like me anymore."

"Take a seat Grayson." He followed her instructions and Dana finished the board. She cringed at the fact she'd gotten the highest points and quickest time but after that, the scores had been about what she'd expected:

**_Eric- 2.22. 38_**

**_Carter- 2.21. 37._**

**_Hunter- 2.25. 36._**

**_Cole- 2.24. 35._**

**_Orion- 2.29. 35._**

**_Dustin- 2.27. 33._**

**_Connor- 2.27. 31._**

**_Nick- 2.30. 31._**

**_Troy- 2.31. 31._**

**_Leo- 2.30. 30._**

**_Xander- 2.38. 29._**

**_Andros- 2.45. 28._**

**_TJ- 2.50. 28._**

**_Wes- 2.59. 26._**

**_Vida- 3.10. 23._**

**_Daggeron- 3.09. 22._**

**_Tommy- 3.10. 21._**

**_Jason- 3.10. 21._**

**_Billy- 3.11. 21._**

**_Ryan- 3.15. 21._**

**_Trent- 3.19. 20._**

**_Maddie- 3.24. 20._**

**_Chip- 3.28. 20._**

The last three had struggled at the balance beam and Jenji had been particularly hard on them. Dana knew they would've gotten ten points higher if they hadn't kept falling.

"So, the scores are up. Don't be disheartened by them, Jenji was pretty cruel and it was your first time for most at the bottom. If you notice, the top ten percent have experience with this sort of thing- and Ryan is just lazy." She told the group before continuing on,

"So... Sparring. Rules. Do not actually hurt your opponent. Hurt them and we will hurt you. Number two. Mystics, Ninjas, Connor and Trent, you can use your powers now but play fair. Not all the teams have experience or exposure to these sorts of things. At Lightspeed, we were reliant on what our designer built us and our combat skills. We didn't have powers or futuristic tech and our demons used dark star powers against us. Play fair. Three. All technology is allowed but I'd prefer if you used combat skills rather than point and shoot. Four. You're learning from each other, if you don't know something that your partner does, ask and learn. Mystics, this will be particularly useful to you... We're all more experienced-"

"Dirty..."

Dana span to Wes and directed her next point to Carter, "Fifth rule just for you and Wes. Carter beat the crap out of Wes and we'll turn a blind eye. Wes, even give him a scratch and I will personally beat the crap outta you." She hissed then turned back to the majority, "Anyway, we're the old guys and you're the rookies. We might tease you but we will help so ask questions. The more questions the better- not you Wes; you just stay silent." Dana looked to Taylor for anymore to add. "Okay, pairs. Carter and Wes, Cole and Chip, TJ and Connor, Jason and Nick, Dustin and Xander, Billy and Maddie, Andros and Orion, Leo and Troy, Ryan and Eric, Tommy and Daggeron, Hunter and Trent and Vida and myself. Find a space and spar."

Wes looked anxiously at the Red he'd been partnered with and prayed silently that Carter was a strong pacifist. He'd been a Ranger so clearly would fight but maybe only the bad guys... He was a gentle giant?

"Am I going to regret giving your fiancée a hard time now?"

Carter turned to him, a smug grin on his lips, "Yeap. Just remember you have to hold back."

Wes gulped and followed the Lightspeed Red to the empty space, "It's a good thing I have good self defence skills..."

The sparring commenced and everyone appeared to be playing fairly. The Mystics resisted using their magic and the speedsters kept to a slow pace, Trent wasn't as forgiving and kept sneaking up on Hunter; Hunter's hawk like hearing helped him and he was able to counter act each attack perfectly.

Wes spent a lot of time on his back on the ground with Carter looming over him waiting for the next round- he could hold a grudge, especially when it concerned the woman he loved more than anything.

Vida and Dana were taking a more passive approach, neither wanted to make the first move and had spent most of the time so far performing self defence.

Dana stopped and flipped up her visor to reveal her azure blue eyes. "Vida, hit me with your magic!"

"What?! No!"

"Trust me, I'll be fine! Hit me with the best you've got!"

"I don't want to hurt you!"

"If you don't use your magic, none of the others will! You and Nick are the trend setters, you have to! Do it! I can deflect it!"

"No!"

"Maybe I should've asked Maddie. Maddie is the better twin after all!"

A gust of wind instantly hit Dana square in the chest, knocking her off her feet and into the air. Breath escaping her, she quickly wrapped her mind around the situation. Her Rescue Blaster extended into a baton which she used to catch onto the trees branches and slowed her landing. When her feet touched the ground she looked up at Vida who was stood with her stance reflecting a concoction of fear, anxiety and anger.

"Vida!" Dana shouted beginning to run back toward the teen, "That was amazing!"

"I've never done it that strong before..." She was well aware of everyone staring at the pair but Dana appeared in her own excited bubble.

"Whatever you did, repeat it! That was amazing! Can you control the direction it takes a person? It could work to get an aerial view and shoot down targets!"

"I don't know- maybe?"

"Lets test it out."

"What if you get hurt-"

"I can just bandage myself up. Come on Vida! Do it again! A little more gently though!"

The Mystic Blue Ranger could hardly believe that someone who seemed like such a pacifist could be a highly skilled fighter. She'd heard of the Mighty Morphin' and Zeo Rangers but she had never imagined she would be training with their Blue Ranger! A few times she had gotten starstruck which lead to an easy opening for Billy to strike. She spent more of the spar battle lying flat on her back than actually fighting.

"May I suggest a slight alteration in your manner of combat stance?" She looked up at Billy who had stood in front of her with his head cocked to one side. "You may find it is acutely beneficial to fight on your feet."

Maddie bashfully stood, "Sorry, you're right."

"Now, widen your feet to a shoulder width apart, this centres you and will increase your resistance and give you a strong foundation," he widened his own feet, having both knees slightly bent, "Like so. Try and move me." She charged at him but found it near impossible to even budge him, "See. It is worth considering."

She nodded, "Thank you, I hadn't thought of that."

"I've been watching your team from my lab. You are all astounding individuals, you should be proud." He turned around and walked back to his starting mark, "Shall we again?"

Orion summoned his staff which he used to hit Andros each time he came within a two foot radius and as leverage to throw in his own kicks.

"Orion! How can I teach you anything if you wont let me near you?!" Andros said, irritation clear in his voice.

Orion shrugged, "Maybe i'm meant to teach you something!" He used the staff to vault over Andros' head, landing behind the other alien and swept his feet from the floor. Andros fell back with a hard thud and stared up at the Silver Ranger.

"Fair point." He answered, accepting Orion's hand when it was offered to him. "You know a corkscrew kick?"

"No."

"Good, something I can teach you then."

Tommy flipped the Solaris Ranger onto his back, relishing in the moment of victory- over a decade later and he still had it- when Daggeron grabbed his ankle and dragged him down with him. They scrappled for a few moments before RJ moved to them. He grabbed both Rangers by the shoulders and dragged both onto their feet, looking between the pair with a knowing eye.

"Pride causes the greatest of misfortunes." He announced meaningfully, "We are not mud wrestlers, we are Rangers. We fight standing, never lying on the ground." He dropped his hold and walked back to where Clare had been set up on a tree stump.

Tommy glanced to Daggeron, "I still haven't worked out who he is exactly."

"You and I both." Daggeron gruffly said before he dived in for another attack.

"Dude." Ryan stopped kicking as Eric pointed into the air, "When did your sister learn to fly?" He followed Eric's direction and, sure enough, the morphed Pink was floating at least thirty feet off the ground and it seemed like she was off balance.

"Crap!" Ryan shouted, "Dana, get down from there! You'll break your neck!"

"Stop it Ryan, i'm trying to concentrate!" Dana countered pointing her Rescue Blaster with a trembling hand at a tree. Ryan lowered his gaze down to Vida, who had apparently grown wings and was focused on Dana.

"Hey! Newbie Pink! Stop it!"

"If I stop she'll fall! Pick your poison!"

"Dana!" Ryan shouted again and approached the Pink's sparring area with great haste, "Get down or I'll tell Dad!"

"Oh sue me! He already hates me!" She pulled the trigger and the beam from her blaster hit the tree perfectly. "Hey! Five years retirement and I can still hit the target!"

"Are you done yet?! This is too much!" Vida said with her voice straining and clearly fatigued, "Please!"

"Okay! Gently does it-"

"Dana! The hell are you doing?!" Carter shouted up, having seen the shot fired and had followed the trail back to it's source, which instantly drew in more attention, "How the hell did you get up there?!" His sight fell to Vida and he groaned audibly before returning his attention to the blonde, "You're gonna fall!"

"Wow, thanks for the support!" Vida called over, which temporarily distracted her and caused her to lose her wing's momentum.

Dana wobbled unsteadily; the wind draft that was below her feet affected her morpher which caused a sharp shock to radiate up her arm painfully before causing her to unmorph.

"Shit." She muttered under her breath, "Vida!" This was why Dana didn't take risks! They always backfired when she did!

"Good thing she isn't wearing a skirt this time," Wes voiced which earned a punch to the gut from Eric as a crowd formed.

"I got this." Leo announced, "Hang tight Dana!"

"Like I have a choice Leo."

"Jammer Jet Board!" The Galaxy Red summoned, jumping into the air as the hover board came flying at him. He landed on its surface and started up toward the pink.

"I'm sorry!" Vida called up, when a bout of dizziness hit. She stopped the wind suddenly and collapsed back into Xander.

Dana screamed as the wind disappeared. She began to fall the three stories she had been at.

"Dana!"

"I got you-" Leo swept past, grabbed her arm as his board became stationary which had her dangling whilst he knelt to keep his grip tight. "Give me your hand and I'll pull you up!" Dana took his outstretched hand and he pulled her up to join him kneeling. "Didn't have you pegged as the daredevil in your team." He joked as they both stood again, "Hold on-"

"To what?!" She'd barely had a chance to catch her breath.

"To me, what'd do you think?! Don't want you to fall off backwards." He glanced over his shoulder back at her.

"Fair point." She wrapped her arms around his torso and tightened them when she jolted back as the board started moving, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. You're not the first falling Ranger I've had to save! Besides, we couldn't have you break your neck before the wedding." He stopped when the board was three feet from the ground and jumped off. He extended a hand up to the Pink, "Maybe next time have someone spot you or something."

"Point taken." She took his hand and jumped down into the space next to Vida, who was leaning on Xander for balance, "Hey, you okay?"

"Woozy." Vida answered, "I'm sorry-"

"Don't be! It worked, didn't it?"

"You could've died." She lowered to the floor with her head bent between her knees.

"You kinda get use to it as a Ranger - oof!" She was cut off as Orion ran straight at her, hugging her so tight she could barely breathe. "Okay..?" She gently patted his back, "Hey?"

"Dana!" Carter unmorphed as he walked toward her concern and anxiety clouding his face, "What the hell were you thinking?! That sort of stunt isn't you!"

"I realise that but it had to be tested! Besides Maddie, I was the best test subject! We were fine until people started critising and pressuring her!"

"That was a stupid stunt." Wes stated, "She's a kid, she isn't capable of-"

"Vida isn't just a kid!" Nick shouted at the Red Time Force Ranger, "None of us are so watch what you say."

Maddie knelt by her twin, offering her a bottle of water. "Didn't you guys ever fail at something the first time you tried it? I bet you fell a lot when you first started to walk but still you tried it! At least Vida tried!"

"Exactly. She tried and failed! It almost killed my sister."

"It was my idea not Vida's! I made her do it so if anyone is to blame, its me- not her! Maddie has a point; we all had to practise to be able to do something right! Be it combat, medical, rescue, flying a plane or even soccer! She tried and she did great for a first attempt!" Dana argued.

"It was a good idea that was badly executed." Tommy stated as he stepped forward unmorphed. Jason was by his side nodding along, "If Vida can learn to take it further, it would be a good way to handle groups. Until she can learn, basic safety is required, more than one of us present in case of another incident like today. Preferably someone with access to the sky and Vida will need a mentor willing to help."

"You were so adamant on it, you volunteer." Ryan shot at his little sister whose face quickly flushed red from agitation.

"Happily!" Dana snapped, "If that's what she wants."

Vida shrugged and passed Maddie back her bottle. "I'm fine with that."

"I can make jets..." Maddie quietly added, "I could probably do what Vida does, if I tried I mean."

"Oh!" Dustin jumped up and down, waving his hand eagerly, "I can help her! Tag team with Dana and the twins!"

Jason smirked, "Good. What about the rest of you Mystics?"

"Sure." Nick said, "If you want your feet toasted or wanna be electrocuted."

"Actually, that could work." Jason exchanged a look with Tommy, "Think about it, fire could make a hell of a barricade, mixed with earth and cooled down by water... We made rock. And lightning and water-"

"Zap." Tommy concluded, "This is pretty good..."

"Fire, sun, earth, lightning." Jason shrugged, "I got some ideas for earth."

"That's me." Xander stated.

"Whose my Obione?" Chip piped up, "Lightning."

"Cole is really good with mentoring." Taylor stated, "Patience that rivals a saint."

"I don't know..." Cole shuffled whilst staring at his feet, "I mean, I can try but i'm not the best."

"Me either but its worth a shot right?" Dana assured the brunette. "Carter? Who better with fire than you!"

Carter raised an eyebrow pointedly at Dana, "I put out fires, not use them against people."

"Thermal Blaster."

"That's different."

"V-Lancer."

"Day, i'm not sure -"

"You know the dangers of fires dude." Leo reasoned, "It would work. Anyway, you're not hurting people, just the bad guys." Carter sighed and raised his hands in a mock surrender.

"Great. That just leaves solar boy- Andros."

Andros shot a look at TJ, "What makes you say me?"

"Come on, you fly near the sun often, it must hit you occasionally to test it out."

" There is no logic in that!" Andros protested, "But whatever, I'll do it."

"Good. Vida and Dana, Maddie and Dustin, Nick and Carter, Chip and Cole, Xander and Jason, Daggeron and Andros. The rookies are your responsibility now." He turned away and continued to spar with Daggeron, taking the latter by surprise.

Dana knelt by the Rocca twins and began to check the Pink's vitals. "I'm sorry I pushed you so soon." She stated and met Vida's dark gaze, "I knew it would be great if it worked. If you don't want me-"

"You're better than most here. You're taking us seriously, not like we're stupid kids."

Dana smiled softly, "Because I was that stupid kid at one point. I was eighteen when I was a Ranger and still in high school. The next youngest in my team was twenty three, Carter, until my brother came along. Fortunately, they always treated me like their equal, not like a child. It's the same with Cole, he was the baby of the group even though he wasn't actually the youngest. I think you'll actually find those volunteers were the ones who weren't taken seriously at some point. I promise I won't push you too far again, but I know you can go further, I have that faith."

"Why?" Maddie asked curiously.

Dana contemplated for a second then she spoke again,

"I've seen someone who had the makings to be evil and kill everyone in his way change course and join the good fight. And I've seen some weird creatures, like mermaids and things from the future and space, that if any other person had ever said they'd seen, we'd be questioning their sanity. I've seen the best and worst in humanity... And I've seen bad ass girl Rangers pass expectations in their team, even if I wasn't exactly one; Jen Summers is probably the best example. She was the Time Force Pink and one of the strongest female Rangers of all time. Complete opposite of me; she didn't need to rely on being saved and she wasn't a push over. Ask Wes and Eric about her, they'll tell you everything you want to know. Personally, i'm pathetic next to her and the Pinks before me, Kim, Kat, Cassie, Kendrix, Karone." Dana stood up and dusted herself down, "Vida, why don't you go lay down for a bit? Go with her Maddie seeing as Billy has disappeared, to his lab I bet."

Cole and Chip stood awkwardly facing each other, both still morphed in their respective suits.

"I'm not exactly that great with teaching people stuff." Cole admitted as he kicked at the ground, "And I don't like sparring but you seem pretty good to me. You can definitely hold your own in a fight."

"Thanks," Chip said, "You fight like a monkey." He cringed as he realised how bad that probably sounded, "What I mean is- you don't fight like a monkey but you move like - your movements are very monkey-esque."

"I was raised in a jungle by a tribe, there were a lot of monkeys."

"It's cool though! You're a lot faster and move-"

Cole's head pricked up, "I could show you how to if that's what you want? It might take a while." He dropped down to all fours, back arched to attack, "So like this and then you pounce like this."

Jason knocked Nick back as he charged at him. "Dude, you're mad at Wes not me." He flipped the Mystic Red onto his back, "Anger will be your biggest downfall if you're not careful." He stretched his hand down to Nick and pulled the rookie up to his feet. "How you stuck up for Vida is admirable. You are all kids compared to us, but a lot of us were kids when we first started. One of us- he's not here- was twelve."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He still can't legally drink. Techie like Billy."

"But he was a kid, we're not!"

"Compared to some of us who are the wrong side of thirty, nineteen is young. Like I said, we were kids too when we started out. Billy, Tommy, Dana and I were eighteen. The Ninja's were nineteen. Connor and Trent were eighteen. Just because you're younger than us doesn't make you any less of a Ranger. Tommy is one of the greatest Rangers of all time-" Jason paused, mentally kicking himself before adding aside, "Don't tell him I said that."

Nick chuckled, "I wont."

"My point is... You just gotta keep up what you are doing and keep being a good leader. A good leader makes sure their team is the best it can be, but will also stick up for them when it's needed. They're your responsibility but if something goes wrong it isn't always your fault."

"Can you be my mentor instead of Xander's?"

"Ah c'mon, Carter's a good guy - more sensitive and in touch with his feelings than I am-"

"Guy looks like he could throw someone through a wall."

"Yeah, I try not to dwell on the fact his girlfriend is like half his size but good luck to them. He's a good guy if you give him a chance."

Nick shrugged, "S'pose so. Hey, you know that aerial kick you did? How did you-"

Jason wrapped his arm around Nick's shoulders, "Allow me to show you."

Hunter and Trent circled each other in a tense silence. Both were waiting for the other to make the first attack as they knew making the first move was rarely a wise choice. Hunter had learnt to watch for Trent camoflaging before an attack, and Trent had learnt Hunter had hearing and sight that could rival a hawk. Any move Hunter could successfully counteract- it was an equally balanced match which could only result in a draw.

"How about we sto-" Trent was cut off by a crimson streak charging straight to his chest. He fell back to the floor completely winded and stared up at Hunter.

"Always be prepared." Hunter stated before sauntering back to his starting mark. "Again."

"I let you win that time." Trent countered as he stood, "This time we-" Yet again, the streak came at him but Trent was just able to dodge in time. "See-" He was pushed onto his hands and knees from behind and Hunter walked past toward his mark again.

"Again." Hunter repeated.

Troy smirked under his helmet as Leo challenged him again. Well, the guy wanted to see something new... He pulled out his morpher and a Ranger key. He quietly announced his key and activated it.

Leo watched in confusion at first as Troy morphed again and he was even more confused when a morphed Galaxy Red was stood before him.

But he was the Lost Galaxy Red?!

"The fuck?!" He waved his hand and the clone waved in sync with him. He kicked and the double did the same. "THE FUCK?!"

"Jet Jammer Board!" The double stated and jumped just as Leo had earlier and landed on the board perfectly.

"No! That's mine!"

"You said show me something impressive, there you go Leo!"

"Troy?!"

"Yeap."

"You can morph into... Can you do that to anyone?!"

"Only Reds... Well, we've never tried morphing into others so far but I think I'd have a hard time explaining why i'm Aunt T-" he shot up in the air before coming straight down. Leo hit the deck as Troy narrowly missed him. "Cool huh?!"

"... Give me my damn board back."

"Stop it!" Xander exclaimed whilst Dustin continued to run circles around him but to Xander he was just a yellow streak and a reason to be dizzy.

"Aw come on! You're just mad you can't catch me!"

"I can so!" Without meaning to, he created a wall made from the earth that Dustin ran straight into. The Yellow was thrown backwards. He stared up at the sky mildly concussed.

"Ah God!" Xander panicked as he knelt down next to Dustin, "You're not dead are you?!"

Dustin shook his head, "Ouch... That was..."

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"So awesome!"

"What?!"

"Little heads up next time though dude! Hey! I bet if I knew I could run through it and we could sneak attack people!"

"You hit your head harder than I thought."

"No, i'm the Earth Ninja! I can go through the earth and stuff. Lets test it!"

Dana paused by Eric and Ryan, arms folded across her chest at them both sitting on the ground. "Oh, i'm sorry boys, am I interrupting a nice , girly gossip?"

Ryan ducked his head whilst Eric scoffed. "Something got your panties in a twist? We were just saying how you were being a mega bitch right now."

"A mega bitch?" She repeated, "I didn't realise, sorry. It's Wes, i'm sick of him making jabs- if I wanted to be treated like a child I would've stayed at home with Dad. I'm sorry if i'm taking it out on you guys."

"Ignore Wes, he's a douche." Eric stated firmly, "He's just annoying."

"No need to tell me twice." She smiled, "But guys, do me a favour. If you don't plan on sparring, can you at least stand up and be morphed so you look busy?"

"You got it sis."

Clare and RJ sat comfortably under the shade of a tree, the blonde with books in her lap and the brunette appearing to be watching the spars but actually keeping a careful eye on the young woman next to him.

"I've been meaning to ask," Clare spoke up. "Why you're here- not that I don't want you to be here or that I dislike you being here, it's just that you don't really visit often and you...haven't, in a while." She trailed off at the end. She kept her gaze on the potions book she had been reading. There was quiet between the two.

"I'm sorry I haven't been around lately," he began. "But I had a feeling that something bad had happened and I had to make sure you were alright." His explanation didn't confound her as it might others- she knew him better, of course- but the acknowledgement of worry made her face warm slightly and she glanced toward him. She caught his eye and turned back to her potions book with a smile on her face.

"So, you're from 2025?" Andros asked the blond alien as he admired his staff, "That's quite far ahead."

"Well, i'm not a Ranger then. Troy and I were Rangers in 2013." Orion answered, "What's that like fifteen years after you?"

Andros scoffed, "Just don't mention the time gap to any of the other Rangers. Does Tommy still have hair? I'd love to imagine forty nine year old Tommy bald."

Orion chuckled and took his staff back from the Red, "He does, sorry. He just looks a bit older. Billy looks worse for wear and Leo looks a little rounder. Actually, the women don't look much different."

"How'd I look?"

Orion looked to Andros seriously, "I don't think you want to know, its not-"

"Really?!"

He broke into a large grin again, "Dude, you don't age!"

"Oh yeah... So I look better than TJ?" Andros stared at the staff thoughtfully, "How far do you think you can throw someone with that?"

"I don't know, I've never tried.."

"Congratulations, you're about to try." He clapped Orion on the back and took a few paces away, "Run at me."

Connor was super speeding circles around TJ, this left the latter severely dizzy and disorientated. Being matched with a speedster was not fair, especially when TJ had been in retirement for seven years officially.

"Okay, stop, stop, stop!" TJ held up his white gloves hands, "Connor stop!"

The Dino Red skidded to a halt, staring at the elder Red with his head cocked, "What?"

"You can't just super speed until your opponent gets too dizzy. Say they start shooting or have killer senses?! Bye, bye Connor."

"It's happened, I'm still standing."

"Is there anything else you can do?"

"I'm killer with a soccer ball."

"There we go then! Make whatever you have at hand a weapon. Go get your ball." Within the speed of a blink, Connor was stood with his ball, "Now, show me whatcha got."

"Have you spoken to Eric yet?" Taylor jumped at the voice speaking softly to her left. She didn't need to avert her gaze from Cole and Chip's spar to know who it was.

"You're creepily quiet when you sneak up on people, do you know that?"

"It's been mentioned." Dana replied. She stepped forward to catch Taylor's attention, "Have you spoken to him?"

"About?"

"You know what about."

Taylor sighed and stared down at her clipboard, "No. No I haven't."

"Don't you think you should? I can't keep finding ways out for you- really you shouldn't even be here for the health of the baby."

Taylor glared, "Are you suggesting I should go home and abandon this mission?"

Dana shook her head before pushing on, "What i'm suggesting is that you should alert people who are involved. Eric, Tommy, Jason and Billy. No one else here needs to know."

"They'll just tell me to leave as well Dana." She bluntly stated, "I wasn't raised to back down."

"And neither was I. Trust me, the last thing I want is for you to go back to Turtle Cove, that would make me the only retired female here and Wes would have a field day with that one. I just don't want you to do something stupid."

Taylor met Dana's concerned eyes with a cool look, her lips pressed into a thin line. "Would you tell Carter?" She spoke rationally but with an echo that this whole situation had been plaguing her mind since she found out.

Dana looked to the Lightspeed Red across the field. She watched as he knocked Wes to the ground again and smiled softly to herself as he extended his hand down to Wes in a peaceful manner. What would she do exactly if it was her? "I'd like to think I would." She answered and looked back at the Yellow, "It's a big thing and I'd have wanted him to be the first to know..."

"But would you tell him?"

"No... Because I know he'd worry and that would put him off his game. He'd end up getting hurt." She glanced over at Eric, "But they're two different people with two different personalities. Carter's more -"

"And so is Eric, you just haven't seen him like I have. Let's not get into this, it's just better to keep it from him. The less people who know, the better."

Dana shrugged, "If that's what you want then okay, but i'm here for you- even though that's probably not much seeing as you met me for the first time yesterday morning."

Taylor smirked, "Hey, it's either you or ego-fueled Reds. I'm pretty sure I heard them start 'i was the best red because' this morning."

Dana giggled, "You know what they say, behind every great man is a great woman... Just remember a lot of those had powerful women on their team; have you met Kendrix Morgan, Ashley Hammond and Kimberly Hart?"

"I think Jen was the best example of a powerful woman; how she whipped Wes into shape is a mystery."

"I think Eric had a hand in that."

"Yeah, he didn't need much training. What about Carter?"

Dana's smile faded slightly, "He was- promiscuous before... He changed on his own when he became a Ranger. He didn't need a great woman behind him."

Taylor furrowed her brow, "You're ridiculously insecure, you know that-" A loud crash, of a body against metal, stopped the two women- and the whole group seemingly. "The fuck was that?!"

A car horn started and Dana cursed under her breath. She took off in the direction of the sound, Taylor following close behind.

Carter was the first to reach the source of the noise, Wes and Dana only seconds behind him. Andros slid off the bonnet of the Rover, which now had a medium sized dent on top. The Firefighter arrived at his team's beloved vehicle, flames behind his eyes. He first inspected the damage, surveying the likelihood that could be repaired before he looked to the alien. He silenced the alarm, glaring solely at Andros.

"The hell are you playing at?!" He barked, "Do you know how much this will cost?!"

Dana elbowed her way next to Carter, pushing Wes to one side. She ran her fingers over the new damage to the jeep.

"Orion has a good throwing arm!" Andros argued, "I didn't think he'd be able to-"

"Well he did, and look what you did!"

"I wonder what he loves most in the world." Wes muttered so quietly, he thought no one had heard... But Dana had.

She hid the sting of the words and turned to her fiancé, "It's not that bad honey, it's had worse."

"Are we looking at the same car?!" He snapped at her before returning his anger to Andros, "How much do you weigh?! A ton?!"

"Angela can probably fix it- or Jason and TJ, they're good with cars." Dana tried to reason, resting her hand lightly on his shoulder, "It's just surface damage."

"He might have affected the engine." Dustin's voice came from directly behind her, "But I like engines! I can take a look!" He sank into the ground, completely disappearing from their view.

"Your obsession with that car is getting worrying dude." Andros said, "It's a car."

"It's a good car! It's saved us a lot of times!"

"Need some alone time with it man?" Wes joked, "Seriously, my bikes have been in worse shape before. It's an easy repair job."

There was some tinkering noises from inside the vehicle, alarming sounds until they realised Dustin was probably in the engine.

Dana removed her hand from his shoulder, gaze slipping to the pink sapphire and diamond engagement ring on her finger. The simple action escaped most of the Rangers attention, only Maddie, Vida, Taylor and Cole seemed to notice.

"Is it possible for a man to be in love with a vehicle?" TJ joked, "Seriously, it's not like it's a sports car or something."

"Guys..." Cole spoke timidly, "Maybe you should stop-"

"It's more reliable than a damn sports car! How many times has your car broken down compared to her-"

"Her?!" Wes scoffed, "I forgot you guys had named it."

"She's reliable!"

Cole tried to get their attention again, "I think you guys should-"

"Shut up!" Vida barked to the Reds, "Cole is trying to politely tell you all to stop being complete Jerks and-"

"True love between a man and his car." Wes said, "Why don't you just marry it?"

Taylor reached forward to pull Dana away but the blonde had already started her next action of returning her hand to the bonnet, even before Carter had answered Wes.

He spoke quietly, an attempt to join in with the joke, but still wistfully, "I would if I could."

Dana stiffened, holding her breath as the Reds continued with jabs toward Carter's relationship with the vehicle. It was as if she wasn't even there, she could have just disappeared completely and no one would've cared or realised. Perhaps her father had been right about jumping in too soon, and the Reds all saw this with the car. He hadn't changed like she thought, he wasn't ready for the commitment.

"Fine." She croaked, drawing her hand back toward her body. She was barely heard over the bantering Reds. "If that's what you really want." Slowly more people were picking up on her, including Wes who was beginning to look concerned. "Then go ahead." She took the ring off her finger, blinking back tears, "Because I am done with being second best to this heaping pile of crap." Carter looked at her completely confused until he registered she'd removed the ring. "You want the car?!" She scrapped the point of the side of the ring across the bonnet, leaving a long trail of chipped yellow paint revealing the silver underneath, "Take it. I'm done! I give up! I should have given up years ago!" She slammed it down, kicked the bumper and stormed away from the group back to root core. The door slammed shut behind her, the only sound to break the silence other than an 'Ouch!' from Dustin after she had kicked the vehicle.

Carter turned to the ring that lay on the bonnet. He picked it up gently and turned it over in hand. It was still warm from being on her finger... He looked back to the door, seeing Ryan and Cole's shapes following the route she had taken into the building, but also it registered to him that every person, other than the three who'd just walked away and Dustin, were stood staring him.

"I didn't mean it..." He croaked, "It was a joke." The bonnet clanged, the dent being punched out from the inside before Dustin emerged from the ground again, wiping his oil stained hands on his jeans. His face appeared just as horrified as the others, indicating he could hear from where he was. He didn't speak, merely ninja streaking toward the building.

"Her dad is going to kill you..." TJ said as he stretched forward to trace the scratch Dana had caused, "Doesn't that man have the power to wipe your existence off the face of the Earth?"

"It was a joke-"

"Well it wasn't a funny one." Maddie stated, "Haven't you seen how upset she's been the whole time here? We didn't even know her before yesterday and we saw it!" She indicated to Vida, who nodded assertively, "She loves you more than anything, that much is clear from the glow she gets when she talks about you- but you don't seem to care. Wes has been upsetting her since she got here and you've done nothing! What kind of boyfriend are you?! If you're like this all the time, its no wonder she's given up! I would've given up ages ago!"

"She doesn't deserve that." Vida added to her twins statement.

"Ah come on," Wes rolled his eyes, "She over reacted!"

"Did she really?" Vida spat back at him, "Have you spoken to her properly? This all runs deeper than your smart arsed comments to her. And you," she glared at Carter with a look so icy it send chills down his spine, "You should've seen it."

"I like you both as a couple," Maddie said a little more calmly than in her original speech but still there were bitter tones in her voice, "But I don't like seeing people get hurt and that's all that's going to happen to you both if you keep on as you are. You need to figure out what you want before she makes up her mind, because i'm guessing when she says she's done, she's done for sure." Maddie and Vida turned and started toward root core with others from the slowly dispersing group.

Tommy stepped into the center of the huddle, "Let's call it a day for training. Get changed and go to your posts for the first shift."

Eventually, it was just Carter, Wes, Troy, Orion and Leo stood in place. Orion kept giving Troy alarmed looks but the latter just shook them off and nodded toward the sparring practise area. The pair took off, leaving the final three Reds.

"You know what they say," Wes started, "You only fight when you know it's something worth fighting for." That statement was something he had strongly believed; he fought hard to prove himself to Jen as a Ranger, even harder to prove himself to her as a person, along with his dad and Eric. It might not have worked out for him with her, something that he often laid awake thinking about at night, but it had brought Eric back to him.

"Yeah," Carter pocketed the ring with his sight set at his feet, "I think i'm gonna take a walk."

Wes clapped his shoulder, "Alright big guy, just be careful. And i'm sorry."

Carter walked toward the trees but stopped when something just at the back of the Rover caught his eye. Tucked behind the wheel, was a small red and orange gemstone, smaller than the palm of his hand. It glinted in the sun, reflecting off tiny yellow glitter particles encased in the lava coloured rock. "Damn Mystics." He muttered, slipping the stone in his pocket with the ring to ask about later and carried on his walk.

Leo turned to Wes, one eyebrow raised.

"What?" The blond questioned.

"Nothing... I've just never seen you say something so -Wise? I didn't realise you could."

"I'm full of surprises." He stated, "Anyway, guy deserves a little sympathy. Taylor and TJ are planning to see who can make him blow his top first, we've all put in twenty bucks, winner takes all. Andros, Eric, Taylor, TJ and I." They started to walk back to Root Core as they spoke.

"So Andros breaking the Rover wasn't an accident?"

"Doubt it."

"You are cruel people, you know that?"

Wes smirked, "It's so fun though- you want in?"

"A hundred and twenty bucks is a challenge i'm wanting to accept." They walked into the building, ceasing their conversation at risk of eaves dropping- which was unnecessary as everyone seemed to be doing their own thing now in their rooms in silence, the mood of the last ten minutes now taking over them.

* * *

[A/N]

**SAM: ****So guys...that was a hell of a lot of crazy. The drama...so much of it.**

_**GREG: **_**_I feel like this has been brewing for a while privately - icing on top of a cake right?_**

**SAM: ****And now, explosion!**

**_GREG: So now__ there is a bit of friction between the teams... not good when you have almost 10 villains waiting to strike._**

**SAM: Yah they're just adding problems to their plates- not smart.**

_**GREG: To be fair, a lot of them have been retired a while... anyway! So, what do you guys think is going to happen next? I'm eager to know.**_

**SAM: ****Yah, how's this whole mess gonna turn out? Thoughts?**

**_GREG: And the mentors? What do you think? Anyone you would replace?_**

**SAM: ****Just, what do you think we're gonna throw at you next?**

**_GREG: Anyway, thank you for reading :3 remember to fave, follow and review to keep up to date with our updates._**

**SAM: ****I hope you enjoyed and I hope you're all doing well!**

**_GREG: Oh and if you have any suggestions for a one shot just leave them in a review or PM us :) we're always eager to heard what others want to read :)_**

**SAM: ****That's pretty much it for now guys.**

**_GREG: See you in the next update, but we're always only a pm away! Oh! And we just set up a beta profile so if you're after someone to read through stuff and to help you out before you post, we can always help now :)_**

**SAM: ****Yups feel free to ask! Alright, ciao guys!**

_**GREG: Bye my lovelies :3**_


	8. Becoming a Team

_**BLADE OF AURORA!**_

**_'Evil is rising. It's growing. It's getting stronger. To avenge Clare, the Mystic's will have to do just that.'_**

**_CarterXDana/EricXTaylor/RJXClare/MerrickXShayla/NickXMaddie/TommyXKat_**

**_Mighty Morphin'- Mystic Force._**

**Disclaimer: We wish we owned it but all rights belong to Saban, we only own the plot.**

**_CHAPTER EIGHT._**

**_Becoming a Team._**

Jason's heart sank as he received the latest memo from Kimberly.

_Trini..._

He was torn between wanting to hunt those sons of bitches down and tear them to pieces on his own or keeping it to himself. Of course, neither were a good solution. He forced his phone back into his pocket and walked through to the gym facilities Jenji had conjured to encourage a few Rangers to get into shape again.

He clapped the shoulder of the original Green, who was beating the crap out of a punching bag- made a change from taking his aggression out on himself.

"Tommy"

Tommy ignored the Red, continuing to punch. Each punch made him more tired, the more tired he got, the easier he would sleep tonight. He was in his own bubble.

"Tommy." Jason repeated more forcibly and was promptly ignored again. "Tommy!" He grabbed the man's shoulder and yanked him away from the bag, "Trini. Have you heard from Trini?!"

Tommy stared at Jason blankly as he tried to catch his breath.

"Have you heard from Trini?!"

"No, why would I have hear-" Tommy caught himself as the implications of Jason's question hit him. His aggression took hold; he slammed his fist into the bag and roared, "Fuck!"

"We have no way of stopping the disappearances!"

"You think I haven't realised that Jason?!" Tommy yelled back at the Red, "I've been thinking that ever since you said about Kat! I was meant to protect all of you! Mighty Morphin, Zeo, Dino Thunder- you were all my priority and so far its not working out!"

Jason took a swing at the bag, "Eleven years Tommy. After eleven years I didn't expect us to ever be in this type of shit again but this is different. Rangers are dying-"

"Trini isn't dead, don't you dare say it Jason."

"She could be soon if we don't get off our fucking asses and take out those sons of bitches! Who next Tommy?! Zak? Kimberly? Rocky? Or what about the new kids?! Are we gonna sit around and wait as Chip is killed in front of us?!"

Tommy shoved Jason square in the chest, "You think I don't know that?! I've never been this scared Jason! Looking at all those peoples faces last night when we were all joking about! How many of them are going to make it home?!"

"When you two are finished with your testosterone fuelled discussion." A pair of arms pulled Jason back from Tommy and both looked up at Billy who appeared dishevelled as if he had been awake all night, "Would you care to explain why I can hear you from down the hall?"

"Trini-"

"I'm aware." Billy stated grimly, "But what good is going to come from shouting at each other? Other than alerting everyone in Rootcore of Trinity's disappearance."

Tommy glared at Billy, "How are you not angry at this? You of all people Billy-"

"Trini wouldn't want us fighting Thomas." Billy shoved his hands into the pockets of his oil stained lab coat, "As would Kat and Kai. Leo has received news that Maya is also missing but he is not arguing; he's securing the rest of his team by having them leaving Miniroi and the Terra Venture and join the Lightspeed Rangers at the Aqua Base."

"What good is moving them going to do?" Jason asked bitterly.

"Ryan suggested that demons are not well adjusted to water, and as we are aware from my own attempts, the Aqua Base is impenetrable now-"

"When did you try to break onto the Aqua Base?"

"Leo sees this as the way to protect his team until we have matters under control." Billy continued, "Of course, we aren't all as friendly with Captain William Mitchell as the Lost Galaxy Rangers, and don't have team safe in the future as Wesley and Eric do but there is no ignoring the fact we need to keep Kimberly, Zachery, Justin, Rocky, Aisha and Adam safe." Billy withdrew his morpher from his pocket, "I may have predicted an event like this a decade ago. I set up an emergency program in the event of this- it allows me to keep a track on their whereabouts. If we alert the team to keep their morphers on their person at all times, I can monitor them."

"It scares me how well prepared you are Billy." Tommy told the scientist, "You prepared for an alien invasion too?"

"Yes." Billy turned back to Jason, "its down to the others to protect their own teams, like Leo and Lightspeed have."

"Activate it Billy." Jason told him, "We're not losing anyone else because of those stubborn asses who won't die."

* * *

"Dana..?" Dustin called, peeking in from the doorway.

The Pink didn't turn."I'm fine. I just- I can't be around him right now, you know? God, I must've caused such a scene, but I just..couldn't!"

"I don't think you caused a scene," he said walking towards her. "You responded to how he was treating you and I think you're totally justified- you don't deserve that." Dana looked at him with a tense expression. "D'you want a hug?"

"I-" Dana hesitated. "I shou- I think I just need to be alone." Her brows furrowed in a way that told Dustin she was making sure her face didn't betray her thoughts. Hoping she wouldn't punch him, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. Dana froze for a moment before her arms shakily reached up to clutch onto the back of the brunette's shirt. She buried her head into his shoulder and finally let the tears she'd been holding in fall. "Oh God..." She murmured, "I made such an idiot of myself- idiot."

"Hey." Dustin held her a little tighter, "You did not. The only idiot out there right now is him and he knows it." He looked past her, staring at the many books lining the shelves of the library. Why come here of all places to hide? "No one thinks you're an idiot."

"They-they do. They think I don't hear them joking around- they think- but I do. They don't know Carter like I do and- I thou-thought they were wrong about him bu-but what if I'm wrong?"

"Well they're being jerks and you deserve better than him, especially with how he's been acting." He said firmly.

Dana balled her hands into fists, clutching at the fabric of Dustin's shirt. "You sound like my dad. He keeps saying the same thing." Dana tried to pull away from Dustin but couldn't bring herself to do it, she wasn't exactly sure she'd be able to stand on her own, "I ca-can't believe he's right."

"Don't think like that," he said, trying to stop her from spiralling. "I mean, I shipped you guys, and you were great, but if he's not gonna treat you right then you have every right to call him out on it."

"He isn't- not always... I can't do this..." She let out a big sob, growing more and more embarrassed at her own state.

"It's okay," he whispered and held her tighter.

If Dustin hadn't been supporting her, Dana was sure she'd be in a heap on the floor. "I don't kn-know what to do anymore... It's like everything I thought I knew about him was all bull-bullshit. My dad was right, and Wes and-"

"Dana," he said firmly, stopping her and then lowering his voice. "What happened with your dad?"

Dana gulped, "it's complicated."

"I've got time."

"It doesn't matter..." She sat back down, burying her head in her hands.

"Anything that affects you like this matters very much."

She began to drum her fingers lightly on the table anxiously with her stomach knotting. "My father- he was ridiculously protective over me and Carter is OCD with authority and sticking to the rule plus we didn't want to screw things up if we broke up whilst still on the team or make things awkward with the others so we kinda... Kept our relationship a secret... For a while. The others only found out because they went into wake Carter one morning, hid in the wardrobe and I kinda opened it- indecently dressed; it didn't take a brainiac to work it out. Well, we didn't tell my father- I kept telling Carter I would tell him but then I'd wimp out. Fast forward to graduation night and Carter proposed, against my dad's permission."

"What do you mean?"

"Carter spoke to my father a few weeks before and asked him if he could marry me..."

"That's sweet."

"It is... If my dad knew we were dating and had been for almost four years. He threw a fit and Carter didn't understand- complaining that we should try dating and living together before tying the knot. Carter thought I'd told my dad so tried telling him we'd been living together since the original Base was destroyed but I hadn't broken it to him yet."

"Oh boy."

"Yeah." She ceased drumming, "And so Carter didn't know whether to turn against authority- and if you know him, he would never do that- or follow his heart. Well, he proposed, I said yes and my father was not happy. He kept suggesting to break it off and that I was too young and didn't know what I want, I was being stupid if I went through with it. And I told him if he couldn't accept that I loved Carter and was going to marry him, then I didn't want him at the wedding- I didn't think my father would believe it and actually do that... He doesn't want anything to do with it; not giving me away, not attending, not helping financially. So now Chad's Carter's best man instead of Ryan and Ryan is giving me away. I'm his only daughter, this will be his only chance to give his child away. I was his only child, the only family he had for fourteen years and Carter is like a second son- but he doesn't like us together so is being pig headed." Dana slumped a little more when she finished, feeling lighter after her rant.

Dustin had a grim look on his face as he let Dana breathe for a moment before he spoke. "Dana. First off, you really should've told your Dad about you and Carter, or at least told Carter that you hadn't told him yet. But that does not excuse your Father's behaviour, which is definitely uncalled for. Second, I'm gonna say this again because I feel like you're brushing me off, your Dad wasn't right about you two- his issues and your issues have no relation and his comments should not be involved further in this topic. I dont know what's wrong with him but if he's gonna act like a jerk you are entitled- nope, required to treat him like a jerk. You are not wrong in this."

"I know I should've, but he wouldn't have liked it... He was the only person I had for fourteen years Dustin- I didn't want to upset him if Carter and I didn't- when we broke up. Instead it all backfired. He's my dad, you only get one of those so I can't treat him like a jerk, plus its not in my blood, he's not like-like-"

"Wes?" Dustin suggested.

Dana smiled a half smile, "Exactly. He's not Wes. He paid half of my Harvard fee-"

"Who Wes?"

"I wish, Wes could have footed the whole thing. After paying to help me become a doctor, I can't just suddenly be rude- we can argue but I can't ever not turn up at Thanksgiving or Christmas."

"Did you and Carter not act couplely in front of him?"

"Oh no, we did, my dad thought, quote, _'he was a bit touchy of a person but completely harmless'_, unquote. Forgetting the fact I moved in with him the day after the base was destroyed." Her gaze drifted down to her bare ring finger, "Crap, I have to find somewhere to live- I have to call people and cancel-" she gasped, "I have to cancel the church! And the flowers- and the band- and the caterers- and my dress-"

"Dana," he stopped her, taking her face in his hands so she would look at him. "Breathe. Take a deep breath, now release. Again. Good. You can deal with all that later, give yourself some time to cool off before you throw yourself into that - you'll make better decisions and it'll be easier to deal with when you're calm and rational."

Dana laughed breathlessly, "Marry me?"

He chuckled a little, "It's a little soon for marriage proposals, don't ya think Doc?"

"Are you sure?" She asked jokingly, "'cause I have a perfectly good wedding probably going to waste. All you need is a suit, free alcohol-" she froze for a second, "You think Wes or Eric brought some with them? I could definitely do with some Jack right now."

"Well, I wouldn't put it past them, though I'm not sure here is an appropriate place to get hammered- the now is fine, just the here."

Dana peered around and looked back to Dustin, "You didn't go to college did you? There's nothing wrong with getting drunk in a library. Where would you suggest then? I have a good idea where Wes would be hiding his stash."

"No, I don't mean the library, I mean when bad guys could attack at any moment." He said with a cheeky smirk.

"A good Ranger can fight whilst drunk, take a look at TJ and Wes, they're experts at it- just don't tell them I said that." She laughed into the back of her hand, "I didn't bring up getting hammered, that was you, so technically you're worse than I am."

"Hey, you're the one who bought alcohol into this conversation."

"But I never mentioned hammered, Pinks don't get hammered, we just get tipsy. Clearly hammered is a Yellow thing."

"Hey, don't stereotype me!"

"Hey it's better than Reds who can't hold their liquor; have you heard the Andros story? And anyway, my best girl friend is a Yellow so there is nothing wrong with them."

"Well I'm glad you have such a high opinion of us."

"Your team didn't even have a Pink from what I've heard so clearly you don't think highly of me either."

"Well, you know, none of the ninja elements were pink- I couldn't help that."

Dana laughed, "I'm only teasing Dustin. You're not the first team not to have Pink."

"Doesn't mean the role wasn't taken," she shot him a curious look. "Well, I mean, the colours are symbolic and they seem to attract a certain personality type, but just because the colour is missing, doesn't mean the role isn't filled." He smiled at her.

Dana tilted her head in thought before she nodded, "I hadn't thought of it like that. So, who in your team would've had the Pink personality? 'Cause it definitely isn't Hunter."

Dustin looked away in thought for half a second, "I think Tori took up that role for us."

"You're not like Kelsey for sure though." Dana stated firmly, "Similar traits but, honestly, you're not like any of our team. We were all- regimented, besides Joel and Ryan, it just worked that way... Guess every teams not the same, huh?"

"Of course not, but there are other similarities. The one who holds the team together, the one who listens the others' problems, the one who keeps everyone going, the one who keeps everyone sane. Lot's of different roles in the group for everyone to take and balance. We need them all to survive."

"I don't think my team had all those roles. I mean, Chad pretty much kept everyone sane and Kelsey kept everyone going... Carter-" Dana's voice croaked ever so slightly, "Listened to problems, but Joel, Ryan and I didn't fit."

"Everyone has a role," he said gently, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's not always clear, but you have a purpose and the team wouldn't be right without you."

Dana smiled and placed her hand atop of his, "Thanks. You're really sweet, it's no surprise who you were for your tea-"

A crash behind the pair made Dana stop. She cast her gaze back over her shoulder and saw Carter moving from the pile of books he had accidentally knocked off the shelf. She mentally kicked herself as they locked gazes. A moment of silence passed before Carter opened his mouth. Before he could say anything, Dana's gaze hardened and she turned and walked out, pulling Dustin along behind her. The Ninja followed without complaint.

* * *

Chip winced as Vida slammed the cash register closed. The Sprite had been seething all day in a barely restrained rage. He shared a look with Xander from where he was stacking CD's, silently discussing whether to approach the girl. The choice was made for them when their morphers chimed.

Xander and Chip didn't end up doing much during the fight, the hoards of foot soldiers being taken out quickly and brutally by Vida. Once the fight was over, Vida let out a huff, summoned her glider and fled the scene; the boys followed quickly after her. She landed by her house, de-morphed and scaled up the side till she was on the roof. Xander and Chip settled down quietly on either side of her as she took deep, purposeful breaths.

"What's got you wound up V?" Chip finally asked.

Vida let out a long sigh. "It's...I guess it's the whole thing, with Dana, how they've been treating her since they got here. It's disgusting. I hate that she's just taking a lot of it as well. I mean,you guys didn't hear her talking like she isn't a total badass and it pisses me off so much that she actually thinks that. Honestly, I don't know how I'm gonna go back to Rootcore and deal with a lot of them and not just rip them open and rearrange their insides." Xander shifted a little whilst Chip carefully kept still. Xander placed an arm around her shoulders and Chip took her hand in his.

"We're with you V, don't doubt that. We'll deal with this together." Chip said. "Just like we've dealt with all the weird stuff before," Xander agreed with a small grin. Vida scoffed but a smile tugged at her lips.

"It's just the way she takes it. We joke around, but at the end of the day we all know its a joke. Dana doesn't realise it. She saved me the second she arrived at Rootcore, she started treating Clare and then went about her business."

"Yeah. She's pretty cool." Chip agreed.

"Bit of a Bridezilla."

Vida shot Xander down with a cutting glare, "And when they get hurt, they'll turn to her. And Carter- why doesn't he actually stick up for her? He supposedly loves her and wants to marry her, yet he let's her believe that basically- she's the worst Ranger there has ever been." Vida curled her empty hand into a fist, "It just makes me mad."

"V, their relationship is their problem, so its best to just take a step back and let them work it out. Some people never see their worth, it takes a lot of people pointing it out for them to see it." Chip squeezed her hand gently, "Dana's got us."

Vida's morpher chimed an unusal chime and she furrowed her brow, "Yeah." She stood and dusted herself down, "I guess I'm finding out what I'm gonna do at Rootcore now."

* * *

Maddie and Vida stepped into the Rootcore grounds, leaving behind the town to see what they were being summoned for. The first thing they saw was the blonde Pink and Ninja Yellow sat side by side in deep conversation on the stone step. Their heads didn't lift from the notes, even as the twins approached. Dana looked up at Dustin, with a bright smile, laughed and knocked his arm softly before she registered the two girls.

She coughed awkwardly and stood. She tugged down the hem of her pencil skirt. "Hey, so the morpher thing does work."

"We would've used cells but we don't have everyone's number." Dustin explained as he stood, "And none of us had tested Billy's thing with you guys so- anyway, you two up for a little training?"

Vida crossed her arms over her chest, "We're up for it. What about you guys?"

Dana sighed and grabbed the back of her neck, "If what you mean is after what happened earlier, I appreciate your concern but I just want to forget about it for now. Training or studying has always been my way of distracting and seeing as I have nothing to study for anymore, this is it." She shrugged, "Plus, we saw your fight on our monitors, you could probably do with letting of steam."

"Tommy said we need someone with access to the sky." Maddie pointed out.

"Oh, we got that covered." Dustin pointed up at the sky where Leo, fully morphed, hovered a couple of hundred metres above them on his board. "Its a funny atmosphere inside right now, so we thought it would be best to occupy ourselves in the fresh air."

"And I was bored!" Leo shouted down.

"And Leo was bored." Dustin repeated, "We had an idea."

"The reason what Vida and I were trying earlier didn't work was because she was trying to balance all my weight on her own first time." Dana picked up the sketches to show both girls, "Now, with enough training, you'll both be able to easily do that on your own, or even as a combination to get more strength but right now it would be pushing you both too much."

"But Vida did do it." Maddie defended whilst her eyes scanned the pages, "She kept it up for at least two minutes."

"We know," Dustin said, "It almost made her faint though, and totally drained her of energy. Think of this as a building block, first step before you both barely have to put in any effort to do it on your own."

"In short, Maddie you'll be focusing a jet stream on my left foot, Dustin'll show you where to stand." Maddie and Dustin moved toward a bright orange traffic cone set up furthest away from Rootcore. Dana turned to Vida, "You've got my right foot. Now, I know you can do this Vida, you did amazing before. This time you need to match Maddie's pressure otherwise-"

"Too weak you fall my way, too strong you fall toward her. I get it."

Dana smiled and nodded, "Good. Now prove them wrong because you're not just some kid." She directed the twin to the other orange cone and moved toward her own marker, morphing as she walked. Her suit materialised on her body almost as if she had walked into it. She inspected her hand and smiled beneath her helmet. God she missed the feeling morphing gave her, energy, power and confidence.  
She looked up to Leo who shot her a thumbs up.

"Okay girls, when I jump, you go. No waiting, just do it."

Dustin moved next to Maddie, resting his hand on her shoulder to reassure her. "Vida is going to match you Maddie, so go lightly first then build up. This one is more about getting you comfortable."

"What if she falls?"

"She won't. Leo will get her, and if he misses, well I'm here." He shrugged, "We're a team, I've got your back and we've all got Dana's back."

"Ready?"

Maddie's hands shook with nerves. She tried to steady them, but nothing seemed to stop them.

"Relax." Dustin coached, "It's a test, no pass no fail."

Dana looked to her student who nodded, a focused expression on her face. "Three... Two... One." She jumped and gasped when she felt the ice cold blast of water hit one foot and the strong blast of air hit the other. Dana opened her eyes and registered that she was ascending to the same level as Leo, who watched with bated breath.

"I see why you like it up here so much." She called to him and he laughed.

"Yeah, view is pretty cool. Lean toward the air stream, water is slacking a little."

"Great job Maddie!" Dustin cheered, "Maybe a little more- that's it."

"Is it normal to feel this dizzy?" Maddie asked with exhaustion in her voice.

"Right now it is." Dustin cupped his mouth with his hands, "Maddie's losing it. Get ready to come down!"

"Okay!" Dana shouted back, "slowly lower girls!"

As Dana started to lower, Leo remained at her level.

"Ten minutes break then they try again for longer?"

"Five." Dana lowered her visor to get a clearer feel of how close the floor was, "It's easier to train yourself to do things if you repeat it within a short time frame."

"Sounds like personal experience Doc." He said in a suggestive tone which Dana was coming to realise was a trait most of the Red Rangers shared.

"And that's personal." She scorned softly.

"You're too much of a perfectionist for your own good."

"I am no-oof." Dana hit the ground with a hard jolt that radiated up to her knees and caused a sharp ache. "Good job girls," she spoke through gritted teeth in an attempt to mask her pain. "Take five."

* * *

Dustin wrapped his arms around each twins shoulders once they finally wrapped up the training session. Dana stood just a few feet away unmorphing. "You guys did awesome." He told the pair, "Give it a week and we'll have to get Cole for one of you to practise on. Slowly work up to the heavy guys!"

"Except Ryan," Dana joked as she walked over with her notes cradled to her chest, "We don't want you guys to pull your back out lifting him."

"Phew." Vida spoke sarcastically, "That would be terrifying."

"You two did great. We'll try again tomorrow. Once you've both got this down, we can try to move onto something else." Dana glanced down at her notes, "I'm going to write up the report then file these."

"Report? Are we being graded."

Dana blushed and tucked her hair back coyly, "Lightspeed protocol. We need reports literally on everything. We'll be taking copies to have on the base with us."

"Dana!" The blonde looked around to the doorway where her brother stood ashen faced, "You need to come now."

Dana recognised the note of panic in Ryan's eye and walked away from the group without a further word. She followed her brother down to the conference room where Carter, Tommy and Jason were sat with Carter's Lightspeed phone on the centre of the table.

_"-no word."_ Dana recognised the voice instantly as Kelsey's and sat down at the table.

"And you're sure?" Carter asked with his gaze set on the phone.

_"No one has seen him Carter."_ Kelsey spoke with a panicked urgency,_ "No one can get a hold of him. Joel and I went to his apartment, it looked like a crime scene."_

"Who?" Dana piped up.

_"Dana?"_ Kelsey asked and shook herself back on topic_, "Chad's missing. He missed his shift."_

"What do you mean Chad is missing?!"

"Dana," Jason motioned for her to stay calm but Dana shook her head.

"No Jason. Look what happened to Kat! Kai has no evidence of a struggle but Chad does." Dana spoke sharply, "Chad would've have put up a big fight."

"There wasn't any blood Day." Carter reasoned but was promptly ignored by the blonde.

"Did he have his morpher to track him?" Ryan asked over his sister who was exchanging sharp words with Jason.

_"Negative. Joel found it on the coffee table."_

"Okay." Carter sighed and ran his hand through his hair in frustration, "Lock down the Base's entrances, all of them including any delivery tunnels. Send out cars to Angel Grove, Turtle Cove, Reefside, Blue Bay and secure the Time Force Rangers ancestors. Bring back all Rangers and their mentors."

"They'll all fit on the Base?" Tommy asked to which Ryan shrugged.

"It fits around 1,500 comfortably."

"Keep all compulsory crew on the Base and get Angela to engage shields. Security check every Ranger that arrives in the cars. Captain Mitchell needs to be on the Base- code 214."

_"Yes Captain."_ Kelsey said,_ "Stay safe you three."_

"You too." Carter hung up the phone and twisted to face Jason and Tommy, "That should buy us more time."

"Those shields haven't been tested." Dana cut across to Carter with eyes narrowed to slits, "Potentially you just orchestrated the death of 200 civilians and 50 Rangers."

"What am I meant to do?" He retaliated, "If the shields work, they're safe for a while."

"They would be safer on Mirinoi."

"The demons have already penetrated Mirinoi."

"And they've penetrated the Base before, under your watch."

"When will you ever let that slide? I wasn't the only one who made a mistake that day!"

"Keep your domestic business at home," Tommy stated as he rubbed his eyelids with his thumb and forefinger, "Its a short term solution for now."

"What's the time?" Jason asked his spikey haired companion.

"Eight fifty."

"Time for the night shift." He stood and stretched his neck, "Connor and Trent?"

* * *

"I'm not saying Andros was a bad Red," TJ stated to the gathered group who sat around in the rec-room, "I'm just saying there has been better."

Andros scoffed, "Are you implying yourself?"

The Turbo Red raised his hands, "Now that you mention it-"

"Bull. Crap." Eric rolled his eyes as the room began to fill with the Lightspeed and Mighty Morphin' Rangers. "TJ, you're definitely not the best."

"Not this conversation again." Carter sat down beside Leo as he sensed he was not welcome over in the corner where Dana hovered on the arm of Dustin's chair with the twins and the rest of the Mystics scattered on the floor.

"Oh yeah." Leo muttered, "We're on that."

"Does this topic come up often?" Chip questioned as he looked from Ranger to Ranger for a reaction.

"Everytime there is some sort of reunion." Dana explained, "'I was the best because-' 'I saved the time stream-' 'I relived the same day lots of times-' 'I fought a giant pizza'."

"That happened." TJ interrupted, "Some of us did fighting instead of posing for pictures."

Dana's face flooded a furious red, "And some of us didn't goof around at every opportunity."

"Because the Lightspeed team don't know how to kick back. Your idea of kicking back is running a few hundred laps."

"And that's why we don't have beer guts." Carter retorted, "We had it harder. Dark magic wielding demons against man made technology. We had no upper hand."

"I'm just saying, did you guys never have fun?"

"We had days off. That just proves we worked harder."

"And yet, still not the best."

Dana leant down and whispered something to Dustin. He nodded and she left the room through the door behind them, unnoticed by any of the occupants.

"We saved your butts that one time." Leo countered but everyone groaned.

"We've all had to have people help before."

"Nu-uh." Dustin animatedly shook his head, "We didn't. Totally on our own, with Cam's tech."

"Oh, and your super Ninja powers." Wes added sarcastically, "Look, let's throw out the Ninjas and Dino Thunder because they had powers. Any team that has TJ on is doomed from the start. Lightspeed were just overworked freaks-"

"Hey!"

"Its true though." Jason teased.

"Lost Galaxy had their lights and all the others can never match us."

Taylor looked to Troy and Orion, "Does this ever get resolved in your time?"

"No." Troy answered with his thin lips curled into a smug smirk, "Never. Our team looked up to you all though."

"And who do you guys think?"

Troy's hand was quick to cover Orion's mouth, "Orion is bias. So am I to an extent."

"What's that to mean?"

"Both of us are close to certain Rangers in our time." Troy turned to his blond counterpart, "Orion has no family anymore and a few took him in like one of their own after his time as a Ranger."

Maddie looked to Orion who stared down at his feet like an ashamed toddler, "That's sweet."

Orion met her dark gaze, "Yeah, it is."

Silence fell amongst the group as Orion returned to his quiet state. His stance made Maddie's mind start to work overtime and she couldn't help but ask, "Orion... They're not dead are they?"

"No." Troy quickly said, "No they're not. Orion's just home sick. They're fine-" A sound that was sharp and out of place in the natural surrounding cut through the group, setting them into a silence yet more alert. Quick, short and loud, even though it sounded like it was at a distance. It radiated in the room before the silence outside returned.

"The hell-?" Eric vocalised but it was Nick who was the first to connect two points together after he scanned the rooms occupants.

"Where's Dana?" He asked.

"She needed some fresh air so went to Connor and Trent," Dustin said.

Carter jumped up from the chair and had bolted out the door before anyone else had a chance to make the connection, he was quickly followed by both Ninja's streaking and the majority of the room going outside where both Connor and Trent were stood to attention in a defensive stance.

She'd screamed...

And now she wasn't anywhere to be seen.

* * *

**[A/N]**

_**GREG: Hey guys!**_

**SAM: What's up! We're back again with another chapter! So much of the drama.**

_**GREG: First update of 2017 for Blade of Aurora and its off with a bang!**_

**SAM: Literally, I guess.**

_**GREG: Oui... Bang! So, Carter and Dana are my OTP... But after this chapter, part of me sees Dustin and Dana would be a lil cute too... Though still Dana and Carter all the way!**_

**SAM: I think Dustin has that effect on everyone.**

_**GREG: Don't pretend you didn't like them too! But anyway, Dana is/was engaged so Dustin will have to run off with a potato.**_

**SAM: A potato?**

_**GREG: Why not? Curly fries!**_

**SAM: Curly fries are good.**

_**GREG: Exactly! But we're getting off topic! Miss Mitchell really is causing problems isn't she? First she breaks up with Carter, argues with Wes, breaks down and becomes an alcoholic in the library and now is attacked! What next? Moves to Mexico under a new alias?**_

**SAM: In her defence, I guess she doesn't mean to, she's just a trouble magnet.**

_**GREG: Does that mean both Dustin and Carter need to find new potatoes?**_

**SAM: It very well could.**

_**GREG: Dun dun duuuuuuhhhh!**_

**SAM: Things for you to worry about. *winks***

_**GREG: So, we are trying to update biweekly with Matchmaking but we've hit a tiny update wall because University sucks... But we'll get through it and will try and update every other week! Sam doesn't know this, but my plan is to get Matchmaking complete by the Summer and B.O.A completed by the end of the year... Surprise Sam!**_

**SAM: ...? When did you figure that math out?**

_**GREG: Well, Matchmaking has been going for two years... We're on Plan J next... So actually over half way through maybe? And B.O.A just needs nudging along... Think of it this way, sooner its finished, sooner we can go onto *wink wink*.**_

**SAM: Subtle :)**

_**GREG: I try! Anyway, so yeah! Keep your eye open for all that! In the mean time, don't forget we do have a one shot album open to suggestions!**_

**SAM: Yup, so tell us what you thought, follow, the usual and we'll see you next time!**

_**GREG: See you soon!**_

**SAM: Ciao guys!**


	9. Somethin' Suspicious

_**BLADE OF AURORA!**_

**_'Evil is rising. It's growing. It's getting stronger. To avenge Clare, the Mystic's will have to do just that.'_**

**_CarterXDana/EricXTaylor/RJXClare/MerrickXShayla/NickXMaddie/TommyXKat_**

**_Mighty Morphin'- Mystic Force._**

**Disclaimer: We wish we owned it but all rights belong to Saban, we only own the plot.**

**CHAPTER 9**

_**SOMETHIN' SUSPICIOUS.**_

"A hundred and six, a hundred and seven." Connor counted as he continued to keep the soccer ball in the air.

Trent glared up at him from his latest painting, where he was testing out his new paints in a sketch pad, "Count in your head."

"Can't." Connor said, not breaking his streak for even a second to look up at the White Ranger, "I'll lose count. You're just cranky because you miss Kira."

"Count in your head." Trent repeated. A shadow cast over his work and when he glanced over his shoulder he saw Dana standing over him.

"That looks really good Trent." She said as she side stepped around him.

"Thanks." Trent returned his attention to his work, "Cigarette break?"

"Don't smoke, never will. Once you've seen one picture of Stage Four lung cancer and had to sit in during a lobectomy, it puts you off it for life." She started to walk around the corner, "I left something in the car."

Connor caught his ball and turned to her, "I'll come with you."

Dana smiled softly, "I'll be fine, it'll be a minute." She turned the corner and both boys went back to their own business.

"One. Two. Three-"

"In your head."

"Four. Five-"

"Connor."

"Dude, just zone me out. Not that hard."

"Your voice is grating." Trent stood up and snatched the ball before Connor could kick it again, "Fetch." He threw it in the opposite direction that Dana had gone.

Connor stared open mouthed at Trent, "Dude!"

They glared at each other for a few silent seconds before Connor relented and slumped off after his ball.

Trent's eyes fell to an empty slot in his paint pack, "Hey!" He shouted sharply to Connor, "Did you take my Cautious Yellow?!"

"What?"

"Did you take my tube of Cautious Yellow paint?!"

"No." Connor snatched his ball up, "What would I want with your crappy tube of-" The Red was cut off by a scream- a clearly female scream- coming from the woods. They froze, both dropping what they were holding and scanned the area quickly. "You heard-"

"Yeap."

"And that-"

"Woods. Loud."

"Yeap."

The next second Carter came running out of the doorway, followed by a crimson and yellow streak before both Ninja's appeared a few feet away from the direction Dana had gone. Carter looked to Trent and Connor with a clear panic in his tired eyes.

"Where did Dana go?!"

"She went to the car." Trent answered as more Rangers came out of the building. Dustin and Hunter both Ninja streaked round to where the car was before they skidded back a second later. Hunter dropped a tube of yellow paint, squashed under the weight of someone's foot, in front of Trent.

"She's not there."

"You let her go alone?!" Carter shouted to Trent.

"Connor offered to go with her! She turned him down!"

"Blonde, blue eyed!" Carter barked back at him, aggression over what had happened to his Pink Ranger clearly taking over all his rational thoughts, "She fits the bill!"

"I didn't realise Kai was a blonde female." Trent retorted sarcastically.

Nick pushed apart the pair who were now toe to toe, "We don't have time for this. Clare can scan the area."

"No time." Hunter turned to Dustin and Connor, "Dustin left, Connor right, I'll go front." Hunter streaked forward into the woods whilst Dustin darted off to the left.

"Oh right!" Connor shot off in the final side.

"You were meant to be on watch duty." Carter sniped at Trent who rolled his eyes.

"Watching for the bad guys, not for Rangers who do something stupid!"

_"Got her!"_ Dustin's voice came over their morphers.

"Is she okay?!" Carter asked sharply, his back turned to Trent.

_"Well... She's alive- I think anyway. She's not exactly awake."_

Hunter and Connor ran back in. Hunter shucked off his jacket which he rolled into a ball and placed on the ground just as Dustin streaked back and placed Dana down on the ground as he knelt beside her.

Eric joined him and checked her pulse and breathing. "Am I right to assume that's her blood?" He pointed down to her stomach and forearms.

Dustin shrugged nervously, "She'd put up a fight from what I saw."

Eric rolled up her blouse slightly, "Okay that's a little deep."

Vida, who had run back inside to grab some medical supplies, thrusted a first aid kit at Eric. She then turned to the group and shouted aggressively, "This isn't a show! Get lost!"

Eric cocked his head in admiration, "My sentiments exactly." He tossed a couple of bandages to Dustin, "You know how to bandage an arm?"

"Y-yeah." Dustin started with his hands trembling, "This isn't bad right?"

"What? This?" Eric nodded down to the gash he had padded with gauze, "No, just a surface wound. She might have a lovely scar for a while though." He met Dustin's eye, "Trust me, this is nothing."

Billy, one of the few Ranger's remaining outside after Vida's snappy remark, knelt down by Dana's head and ran his fingers down her neck to check her spine, "No indubitable signs of breakage. No temple damage." He opened an eye and studied the pupil, "Idiosyncratic."

"Meaning?" Ryan sniped.

"No signs of head trauma." Billy's gaze fell to the wrist Dustin was bandaging, "On which arm does Dana wear her morpher?"

"Her left." Carter answered quickly.

"I feared so. Dustin did not remove it."

Dustin froze and cocked his head, "She wasn't wearing it."

Dana stirred and Eric was quick to hold her down steadily, "It's alright, just keep still Girl Scout."

She screwed her eyes tight, "That hurt..." She muttered which brought a smirk to Eric's lips.

"Really? Looks like fun, tell me how you did it and I might give it a shot."

"Vypra jumped me."

"Where's your morpher?"

"I had it-" Dana opened her eyes and tried to sit up but Eric pushed her back down.

"Let me finish." He told her, "You're not the only one around here who can work their way around a wound."

"Sorry." She stared up at the darkening sky, apparently unaware of the Ranger's to her right (Carter- who looked like he desperately wanted to intervene-, Ryan, Taylor, Vida, Maddie, Orion, Troy and Clare), "Vypra jumped me- I was on the phone to my Father and saw something in the woods. I went, she attacked me- she must've taken my morpher."

"Dana, could you tell me what day it is?" Billy asked. Her blue eyes met his in confusion.

"Why are you asking that?" Carter cut in and Billy turned to him.

"Head trauma. Short term memory impact. It's just a precaution."

"Wednesday." Dana answered.

Billy pressed his lips into a tight thin line, "It's Tuesday."

"To be fair Billy, all days here just roll into one." Eric retorted as he pulled her blouse back down, "All done. What's my name?"

Dana sat up, brought her knees up to her chest and studied her bandaged arm intently, "Eric Myers."

Eric looked to Billy, "See, she's fine."

Billy shook his head, "And my name?"

"Billy."

"Eric just said your name." Taylor crossed her arms over her chest, "Dana." The blonde turned to the yellow, "Who is this?" She pointed to Ryan.

"Ryan Mitchell." Her tone appeared to change slightly, only Clare and Ryan picking up on it; it was acidic, spiked with a slight hatred that neither had heard from her, especially not about her brother.

"And this?" Ryan pushed Carter forward a step, "Know him?"

"Carter." Dana answered with another tone only the two blondes and Dustin picked up on; neutral, no sign of the coldness it had had earlier, but also no sign of affection.

"Who am I?" Dustin pushed which just caused Dana to grow aggravated.

"I'm not five! I don't need to name everyone!" She stood and dusted herself down, "I'm fine. Now, excuse me." She walked through the group and into the doorway, leaving the others to simply watch her exit.

Eric moved to stand, "Does anyone get the impression she didn't want to answer, because she didn't know?"

Billy nudged his glasses up his nose, his brows furrowing the slightest bit in thought. "So it seems. Unfortunately, it seems as though Dana has made it quite clear she does not wish to continue enduring any questions. For now, I am willing to divert my attention to her missing morpher."

"Man's got a point," Hunter grumbled. "She's not gonna answer any questions so it's better if we focused our attention elsewhere." He walked off quietly, eyes scanning his surroundings as he went.

* * *

Orion stooped down, his hand grazing against the blood stained dirt.

Not pleasant.

He looked toward a bush and pushed himself to crawl over and shove his hand in to feel around for the Lightspeed Pink's morpher; ignoring all fears of bugs and spiders to bravely dive in.

"This didn't happen." Orion voiced to his partner who was searching in another growth, "You told me-"

"Technically I didn't tell you anything." Troy said, "If you remember you walked into me, I explained quick and then, straight into a fight."

**_Troy stepped back out of the portal, cursing under his breath as he realised he'd not only gone to the wrong time, he'd also now ended up in the wrong town. He was in front of the familiar house that Orion was always trying to make him come over to- the last thing he needed now was for any of the occupants to spot him. He readjusted the time on his time hopping device come watch when he felt a tap on his shoulder._**

**_"Dude, shouldn't you call first?"_**

**_"Not now Orion." Troy muttered, "I gotta go somewhere."_**

**_"More time travel? What for this time?" Troy turned to his companion who was standing with his arms crossed over his chest, but was surprisingly holding his own morpher in one hand. "You already know don't you?"_**

**_"You know, the tech can pick up stuff in the time stream and I was monitoring the screens."_**

**_"You're not coming."_**

**_"But why?"_**

**_"Because it's dangerous."_**

**_"And that's stopped us before when?"_**

**_"Orion," Troy spoke gently, "I can't put you in that sort of danger- you don't understand but this, it's a huge deal. One slip up and everything we know is different, those people you call family could be wiped out."_**

**_Orion tilted his head then shook it with a small smile as he touched Troy's shoulder, "All the more reason for me to come too. The more help the better right? I'm coming with you Troy."_**

**_ Troy sighed before he relented and handed Orion the other watch from his pocket, "Before the twins catch us and want to tag along."_**

**_"Oh yeah," Orion looked behind him, "I think everyone's out; breakfast's are always too chaotic to work out plans but I think they're out."_**

**_"April 27th 2005." Troy said, "I put in the wrong year first time around."_**

**_"Gotcha." Orion entered the date in, "So... Do we arrive in style?"_**

**_Troy sent a smirk over to the Silver, "Always."_**

"None of them were supposed to get hurt Troy."

Troy shook himself out of his memory at Orion's voice, now coming from directly behind him. "I know, but Kat has no effect on the time stream and Dana's okay." Troy wiped his hands on his jeans and stood, "It's not here, we might as well go back." Orion walked away, double checking the first bush he'd searched. Troy sighed and knelt down beside him, "Orion, don't be mad at me, please?"

"I'm not mad. I'm concerned." Orion met Troy's dark gaze with a steel look.

"Will it make you feel better if I double checked over there?" He asked and when Orion nodded and turned back to his bush, Troy crossed the plain to the overgrown shrub opposite.

* * *

"This is such a waste of time," Wes grumbled, kicking fallen leaves and twigs as he walked. "I mean, sure, we can't leave morpher's lying around but it's not even our morpher! It's Dana's and, in an annoying twist of irony, she's the only one not searching!"

Eric considered making a comment but Wes was on a roll so he figured why not let the man continue to rant.

For now.

"Honestly though, what's eating at her. I mean, she was in a real mood after being thrown around by creepy bat lady, or is it creepy snake lady..? 'Cause the head thing was a snake thing but she has the bat wings so maybe a bat-snake-hybrid-demon-mutant...thing? I don't know man, why is our life so weird; normal people don't have these problems! With the weird-ass monsters and crazy coworkers and just...general weird shenanigans- yes, I said shenanigans, shenanigans is an appropriate word to describe the things we now deal with. Actually, 'hijinks' might be pretty good too, although I think I'm starting to sound like something out of Scooby-Doo... I'm totally Fred though, you can be Velm- Eric? Where'd you go?" Wes spun around again, hoping to spot the other man. "Eri-OH GOD!" Wes yelped as Eric appeared next to him. "What the hell- Where did you go?!"

"Thought I saw something," Eric shrugged, looking out at the forest.

"Wha-of course you did," Wes exhaled the words, calming his heartbeat and trailing off as he realised Eric wasn't paying attention to him. "Whatever," he sighed and kept muttering under his breath considering no one was listening to him anyway.

* * *

Vida knocked on the Lightspeed Red and Pink's room door- though she was very aware for now it was just the Pink's and the Red was going to be very familiar with the couch in the break room- not completely sure Dana was actually in her room. She assumed that's where she'd marched off to after being questioned, but it was close to midnight and she'd been out searching the woods with Maddie and Daggeron for the missing morpher for a few hours now; for all she knew the Doctor could've been doing other things than hiding out in her room, treating her own injuries.

"She's probably asleep Vida..." Maddie whispered but her twin was undeterred and knocked again.

"No she isn't. They've been here four days and I've learned only about 5 of the previous Ranger's are asleep by now."

The door handle twisted and Dana opened the door just enough to poke her head around with a firm set scowl.

"What?"

Vida's eyes widened in shock at her abruptness and she stood staring for a moment.

"Sorry," Maddie said with a clear note of embarrassment, "Were you asleep?"

"No." Dana opened the door wider and stepped out, closing it behind her and folding her arms over her chest.

"We wanted to check you were okay," Maddie started, "Because you went in and haven't come out since."

"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" Vida shot a look to Maddie which read 'are-you-kidding-me?'

But Maddie pressed on, "Because of what happened today? And this morning? It's not an easy thing and-"

"Oh," Dana rolled her eyes and fluttered her eyelashes, which reminded Vida of the bitchy girl in most films set at high schools, "That. Yeah, I don't really care."

"You don't care?" Vida repeated with added emphasis, "Did you hit your head or something?" Maddie elbowed Vida gently in the ribcage.

"Yeap, not a big deal."

"Well," Maddie said with little conviction, "Okay then. Everyone was looking for your morpher but we couldn't find it."

"Vypra probably took it," Dana shrugged, "We'll get it back next time we see her. It's a shame because this," she held up her bandaged arm, "Could do with its healing. Anything else? I'm in the middle of something."

"I wanted to check if you were still okay for training tomorrow," Vida said, "Because I thought-"

Dana raised an eyebrow, "About that, no."

"No?"

"It's too difficult. You're not getting it quick enough and right now I don't have the time to help someone who won't be able to do it. Get someone else to help you."

"You're kidding me right?" Vida almost shouted but managed to stop when she remembered Clare was sleeping down the hall, "You promised you'd help me!"

Dana shrugged, "I lied. People do that."

"What happened to wanting to distract yourself?!"

"I think I have enough to deal with regarding my injuries and research without having to train you. You're not an idiot, figure it out yourself."

"You're kidding me right?"

"But you volunteered to be Vida's mentor..."

"And right now, I don't want to." Dana said adamantly, "Try me in a few days but for now, go bother Wesley." She reopened her door, but not wide enough for either twin to see inside fully- though Maddie caught a glimpse of 'the wedding book' in a heaped pile by the far wall open at a random page, suggesting Dana had thrown it across the room at the wall then left it there. "Now excuse me, I have a phone call to finish up and then I'm going to sleep."

"But you're on next shift-"

"Not anymore. Get Ryan to cover." She walked in and slammed the door shut.

Vida stared, mouth slightly slack, as her confused expression quickly gave way to an angry one. Maddie quickly pulled her sister out of Rootcore, knowing it would be best to create distance from bystanders.

"What the actual fuck. What on earth was- What?!" Vida burst out, words spilling from her mouth. "'I lied. People do that.' People also have very breakable faces! And what even was that eye roll? Forget training with us, she's pushing her goddamn shift onto Ryan- what is this, 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'?! Are we sure that's Dana, because that sure as hell wasn't the Dana we've been hanging out with! Or maybe she's just showing her true colours! Or...what? We're just not worth the effort?" There was something almost vulnerable in that last sentence that made Maddie wrap her twin up in a hug. It took Vida half a second to register but she returned the hug fiercely.

"I don't know what's up with her," Maddie began, voice soft and careful. "But we'll be okay. We'll figure it out." Vida relaxed a little more into the hug, putting her faith in her sister's words.

* * *

**[A/N]**

_**GREG:**_

_**Hey guys! Just me today! Sorry we're two weeks late with an update, and that we're technically updating the wrong story, we've been busy with Uni work and module choices and hospital appointments on my part. We're also tryna hoard chapters because I'm going to be called in for a major operation over the next few months and we don't know when I'll be well enough to write so we're tryna get as many things in the back burner as we can so we can post even if I'm too sick to write. So, you'd actually be helping us out if you have any one shot/ mini fic suggestions- we've got a list so if you have suggested and we haven't done it yet, they are in the works! Please keep suggesting what you would like to read! Be it a plot idea, a couple suggestion, a character or a team you would really just like us to focus on!**_

**_We decided we had to post Blade Of Aurora instead of Matchmaking Mishaps today to mark the release of the new Power Rangers' move! _**

**_Funny story, I googled something, I can't even remember what, three years ago and found an IMBD list with suggestions of a new film's cast so I showed it to Sam and we waved it off as a joke... GUESS IT WASNT A JOKE, HUH?! _**

**_Anyway, as this story has Billy and Jason, but also Tommy (who I don't believe is in the film?), We thought this would be suiting!_**

**_We hope you enjoyed this chapter! And remember to fav, follow and review! Also, PM or leave a review with your suggestions, we'll get back to you ASAP!_**

**_THANKS FOR READING! SEE YOU SOON!_**


	10. Cracking

_**BLADE OF AURORA!**_

_**'Evil is rising. It's growing. It's getting stronger. To avenge Clare, the Mystic's will have to do just that.'**_

_**CarterXDana/****EricXTaylor/****RJXClare/MerrickXShayla/NickXMaddie/TommyXKat**_

_**Mighty Morphin'- Mystic Force.**_

_**Disclaimer:- We don't own anything except our own concepts.**_

_**CHAPTER TEN.**_

**_Cracking._**

Nick arrived in the morning to see the only two people awake, or at least out of their rooms, were Carter, who sat on the step apparently on watch duty, and RJ who was at the mouth of the forest meditating.

"Did you sit there the whole night or are you waiting for the mail man?" Nick asked snarkily as he approached, "He doesn't come here but you could walk a little to catch him."

Carter looked up at him then back down to the ground, "I was waiting to see when you get here."

"Because?"

"Training. Morning is the best time for it." Carter stood with his hands in his pockets, "If you're not in the mood its fine."

"I never said I wasn't in the mood to train."

"Just not to train with me."

"Pretty much."

"Well, sorry it's me or nothing."

"Sucks."

Carter shrugged and walked toward the training ground. Nick took a minute before he followed. "Honestly, I don't care less what you think of me Nick." Carter spoke when they came to a stop by a pile of fire extinguishers, "And if you do hate me, it's only because of what happened with Dana-"

"Oh no," Nick folded his arms to his chest, "I think you're a ray of sunshine."

"Why does what happened with us bother any of you Mystics? You don't know anything about either of us, let alone our relationship. You met us not even a week ago."

"I know she got attacked last night and has become a bitch yet instead of sorting her out, you're here trying to prove a point to me."

Carter grabbed an extinguisher and pointed the nozzle toward a straw dummy, "Do something."

"Doesn't work like that."

"Then make it work like that." "What point are you even trying to make? That you're good at your job or something? Because I'd rather be a crap Ranger than a crap boyfriend."

Carter sent a cutting glare to the nineteen year old, "That's not up for discussion Nick. Just shoot some fire at the target."

"You chose a car instead of going after your fiancee."

"Again, you don't know what happens with Dana and I, or what has happened in the past five years. Whether we argue, make up or break up, it's private and not something we want broadcasted around. Anyway," He glanced down at the nozzle then met Nick's eyes again, "You're exactly the same as me." Carter told him, "Nice motorbike you have, what's Maddie think of it?"

Nick's hands began to let out Red sparks with his shoulders becoming sloped with anger. It was if he was squaring up to Carter. "What are you implying?" "Just pointing it out. I wouldn't be so quick to criticise me when you're as bad."

"Got me there, gee haven't I learned my lesson?" Nick swang his arm out toward the target; a jetstream of fire coming from his finger tips and spiralling until it engulfed the target ablaze of orange, red and yellows, thick black smoke rising up with intense heat radiating the whole area. Nick ceased the stream, "There! Hit your damn target!" A water jet stream extinguished the fire and Nick traced the line to Maddie who was emerging from the trees with such a concerned look etched on her face that he cursed under his breath for worrying her.

"Good job," Carter spoke as he walked over to the target and picked up the scorched head, "You killed Maddie." He tossed the head to Nick who caught it and stared down at it. He turned it over and saw the thick, black lettering in capitals reading 'MADDIE'.

Carter walked back to where Nick was standing, "I don't care how angry you get in battle, when someone is calling out everybody you care about... You still need to be on top form otherwise that dummy- that might actually be someone you care for."

"What? You wanted to embarrass me?" Nick threw the head to the ground and met Carter's cobalt eyes.

"No. Its teaching you a lesson." Carter said, "In one training session, I blew up twelve flammables and killed 30 people- cut outs not real people. Real world scenario my mentor stopped me in time before I would have killed myself and three others." "So you rile me up and watch me fail?"

Maddie took a few steps closer so she could hear the conversation but far enough not to interrupt.

"Hey, technically you started the verbal attack- I just used it to test your temper." Carter shrugged but his face became clouded with a darkened look, "I don't care what you think of me, but don't ever bring into question my relationships, and especially not suggest that Dana isn't a priority to me. She has been one of the most important things to me since I met her on the first day as a Ranger and that isn't going to change- ever." He spoke to Nick as if it was a warning and Nick just kept his glare fixed on the blond, "Next training session will be a real one." The Red walked back into Rootcore with both Mystics left in silence.

Maddie walked over, took his hand and led him away to a camera blindspot. She waited quietly for Nick to speak.

He exhaled sharply and rubbed his eyes. "This is...ridiculously bad. Clare's injured. Old Rangers are popping up dead and going missing. The guys that are here think we can't do anything and are either crazy or have issues to deal with. And Udonna's still not back. Honestly, we are off to a terrible start." His laugh was short, weak and forced. He paused then continued, still not looking at her. "I know I shouldn't have behaved like that, I let my anger get the better of me and I treated him as though he was the jerk I had class with, not the jerk I go to work with." She nodded, his gaze was still fixed on a crumpled leaf by his feet. She gently pulled him over to a fallen tree and sat him down next to her. "I didn't mean- I didn't know that-"

"It's okay. I know you didn't."

"No, it's not- that could've been-"

"But it wasn't. It's okay because I know you're sorry, and because I trust you and I have faith in you." He looked up at her then, the guilty fire that had been burning was steadily beginning to die until all that remained was the soft green of his eyes. She squeezed the hand she was still holding. He held on tight.

* * *

Clare studied her shelves with scrutiny, partially brought on by the headache that didn't seem willing to relief itself. The past few days all she had seemed to be doing was reading- spell book after spell book, which, upon reflection, may have contributed to making the headache worse. She was too wrapped up in picking her next book, she didn't hear RJ enter her room.

He looked at her, sensing something ailing her and folded his arms over his chest. "You shouldn't be up." He scolded which made Clare jolt from his voice, pulling a random book out with her when she jumped away. She glanced down to read the title, 'The Legend Of Aurora', and mentally groaned; this was just another fairy tale book.

"My head was hurting, I couldn't sleep."

"I'm getting Doctor Mitchell." RJ turned swiftly out of the room before Clare had a chance to protest- she'd been holding off bothering the young Doctor.

RJ came back not long after with the blonde in tow. "So, what do you want me to do?" Dana asked in a bored voice.

"She has a headache."

"So what am I supposed to do about that?"

"You're a doctor," RJ said slowly.

"Right. That is my job." Dana said stiffly and shuffled over to Clare. She looked to the young woman with a mixture of confusion and irritation which made Clare grow self-conscious; she ducked her head away from Dana's scrutinising glare.

"You just need to sleep or something, drink water." Dana swung back around and retrieved a book from the floor that Clare had dropped. She froze as she read the title, giving Clare just a couple of seconds to look at her- or rather, the back of her, specifically where her blouse had risen up, showing a thin band of her back between her grey skirt and her shirt. Clare stared at the pale, bare skin before she ducked her gaze away with a pink glow on her cheeks. Dana turned, tucking the book under her arm.

"You shouldn't read."

"What about the concussion?" RJ questioned and Dana turned her furrowed brow to him.

"I'm sorry? Are you the medically trained one? Because if that's the case, why did you bring me here? You're clearly so apt at diagnosis." She said bluntly then turned back to Clare with a cold glare, "Stick to Fairy Tales rather than text books. I'm taking this one, okay?"

Clare bit her lip and nodded timidly.

"Good. And change your bandages, they look grubby. You'll end up with an infection." Dana swiftly exited, casting a scowl back over her shoulder before she slammed the door shut behind her.

The room was silent for a moment as they both stared at the door. RJ inhaled slowly and clenched his fists before exhaling and forcing himself to look calm. He took the bandages and ointment from the desk and walked over to Clare who was quietly squirming on the spot. . He gently sat her down and started on her bandages.

"What just happened...?" Clare asked, almost dazed. RJ let his fingers graze Clare's, drawing her focus to their hands and then to his face.

"She's probably just...not in a good mood. Don't worry about it. You need to focus on getting better." He said, trying to soothe her. Clare gnawed on her lower lip whilst he continued with her bandages. "What are you thinking about?" RJ asked once done, laying his hand fully on top of hers.

"It's just- there just seemed like something was- as though it wasn't her, I- I just feel like something is wrong." Clare said, eyes cast to the side.

"Okay."

"What?"

"If you say something's wrong, then I believe that there might be. I'm with you in this." He said. Clare searched his face and saw no doubt. She leaned back to allow RJ to change her bandages.

* * *

Taylor unconsciously reached down to her stomach, but the second she heard voices she tore her hand away and looked toward the door. Connor and Trent walked through the room, not even noticing her presence or the fact she could barely stomach more than dry toast at the moment; her morning sickness wasn't great.

"What you hiding for?" A hand grabbed a square of toast and she traced it back to Wes who was now gobbling the piece he'd stolen.

"Who said I was hiding?"

"Fact you're in this room on your own. Dana still pissy?" He reached for a second slice but Taylor slapped his hand.

"Mine." She grabbed a slice, "I don't know, haven't seen her." But Dana's words were still in her head. She couldn't tell Eric, he'd freak- or at the very least have a small breakdown, "Where's your boyfriend?"

"He's acting strange. All moany and moody and- I don't know, I mean he's normally moany and moody but this is different moany and moody." Wes shrugged and brushed the crumbs from his chin, "You piss him off?"

"Maybe."

"Explains everything. Hey, could you do me a favour? Dana took my pen knife-"

"Dork."

"And you get along with her. Could you get it back?"

"Do I look like your errand boy? Get it yourself."

"She doesn't like me."

"And you wonder why?"

"Details, details," Wes waved off her question, "Come to think of it, I heard Carter mumbling about files being missing."

Taylor rolled her eyes, "Get lost Wes."

Wes put his hands up and quickly grabbed another handful of toast before ducking out. Taylor stared down at the piece in her hand. Why was there a sense of dread in her stomach? The pregnancy had thrown her off kilter and she couldn't figure out if something was going on or if she was mistaking her nausea for something else

* * *

Billy focused on his laptop's screen, typing the coding into the program. Something wasn't right with it; it wasn't a bug in his software because it had worked well enough on Aquitar, it was almost as if someone had put up a block to stop him patching through. It was plausible that the location of Rootcore mixed with the magic was interfering but at the same time, he had trouble believing it.

"Any luck?" Billy glanced over the laptop lid to see Jason settling into the armchair opposite him.

"No." The Blue answered, "I'm still working on it."

"Have you slept?"

"An adequate amount."

"Not from the bags under your eyes and the empty mugs of coffee." The Red nodded to the coffee table where there were at least five mugs, excluding the ones on the floor by his feet.

"Some belong to Carter. I believe he spent the night on the sofa."

Jason scoffed, "About right, she sure can hold a grudge."

"Indeed."

"Billy." Jason reached over and took the laptop from the Blue and placed it on the table, "You can't run yourself to the ground like this. I know you're trying to help but you won't help Trini by being permanently exhausted. Tommy is already running on empty, don't make me lose you too- this whole team can't function with only me in charge."

"I believe there are no leaders."

"You and I both know everyone turns to the three of us for answers. The team is falling apart and we haven't even gotten through one week. We have a couple who are avoiding each other, a new team who are out for revenge, a few slackers and then us falling apart. Sooner or later the ones clinging on are going to hit a block."

Billy pressed his lips into a straight line, "I do understand."

"We'll find Trini." Jason affirmed, "But it's going to take sometime. If she was dead, we'd already know, just like with Kat."

Silence fell over them as Billy stared down at the empty space on the coffee table where the laptop had once been. It was logical, but didn't help calm him down at all. The silence was punctuated by the door opening and the Lightspeed Titanium Ranger poking his head through; he looked around the room then to the pair.

"You guys seen our files? Carter can't find them and Dana is still being icy."

"No." Jason answered, "Try Wes."

"I did; he said some of his stuff is gone too."

"Then I don't know what to suggest, maybe one of the mystics thought it was something to do with Clare and moved them to the library. There are a lot of people here Ryan, things will get misplaced."

Ryan ducked out of the room and when Jason turned back to look at Billy, he saw the man had teleported out of the room to his lab, along with the laptop. Jason sighed, "Good talk." Then pushed himself up to stand and walked out the room.

* * *

Clare brought her knees up to her chest, curled into a ball around the book she was reading. When she was younger, she would flick through this book, living the tale of Aurora and imagining herself as the heroine. How she used her sword to defeat the Horsemen and then spent years scattering its remains around the Earth, as instructed to her by Zeus.

It had been her favourite fairy tale, different to the traditional ones but so enticing to read. At one point she had been able to recite the story almost word for word; that was almost ten years ago and since then the book had been collecting dust on the highest of shelves. It was heavily worn from constant turning and from natural damage it received. When she had seen it on the shelf, it brought back a comforting nostalgia which in turn made her desperate to reread it.

Once she had believed Aurora to be real. She'd seen her in a dream with wild blonde hair and dark yet trustworthy eyes in a pristine white tunic which by the end of the story had fallen to the elements had had become grey and torn, yet still had an elegance to it. Instead of wielding a wand or magic like Clare, she wielded a sword with the skill of King Arthur and his Knights of the Roundtable; it was something she had learned was unusual for a woman to possess, especially when they had not been trained like Aurora.

Aurora was a free spirit who had been entrusted by the Gods to defeat the Horsemen- even Hades had an involvement in her choosing. She did so with help from each Olympian in the form of a gift, which she had been unable to use. When she banished the Horsemen back to the realm, she hid each gift and the sword, under the instruction that they maybe needed one day again to banish the Horsemen once and for all, long after Aurora was gone.

Clare's eyes grew heavy and she finally relented to close the book at the point where Aurora had stumbled upon an ancient, enchanted water which allowed her to talk to whoever she wished. It was Clare's favourite part; Aurora chose to speak to her mother, whom had passed when Aurora was very young. It would upset her which probably made it wiser that Clare did stop and fall asleep, her headache almost gone.

* * *

**[A/N]**

**GREG: Hey guys, quick note today. We hope you enjoyed this part! There is going to be a little lag in posting for a while; I'm going into hospital for surgery tomorrow, and its a huge operation so I'll be kept in for about a week and it can take a number of months to recover. Whilst we have chapters in doc manager, we probably won't be writing for a while so eventually we're going to catch up with ourselves. We're sorry, it's just unavoidable this time, not us being last and procrastinating again.**

**Thank you for reading and we hope you like this part. Remember to fav and follow so you don't miss any update and reviews are always appreciated! Hopefully we'll see you in the near future!**


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